A Grey life
by Yorun
Summary: Follow the life of a determined young man named Vincent Grey after having been tossed into the Pokémon world. An Academy, A girl, Pokémon, A reality show. It is all included in this story. Read and you will not be disappointed. New Chapter up!
1. Changes

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game or TV show If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 1: Changes  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
  
  
Call me Vincent.  
  
I believe I was about 15 when it happened. I was and still am, kind of short. To make up for me being short, I thought "Muscles before length." So I joined a gym. My goal was to build more strength and develop a nice body, but I think that somewhere In the back of my head my real goal was something else. Something that weights can't give you.  
  
Respect.  
  
After about a year of training I had succeeded in building myself a nice body. But the ever so missed respect that I never had didn't come. I didn't feel any stronger. It was like I had built up a shell around me and underneath it was still the same old Vincent Grey.  
  
It happened that the other guys picked on me and made me angry just so that they could get a laugh at me losing a fight.  
  
I became an outcast. I was left alone. Alone with my hopes and dreams. My hopes were to be left alone by the people in my school. Dreams. My dreams. Move away. Far, far away.  
  
Even though my mind was travelling further away every day, and I had serious issues with smiling and laughing, I still was a good student and got one of the best grades in my class.  
  
It was a few days before we finished ninth grade and we had received the envelope with our grades and everybody was showing their happiness or their disappointment. Everybody but me. The badly lit hallways and the crowd of people was not a place where I would want to stay for a longer period of time than necessary. I walked outside.  
  
The sunrays were refilling. There was nothing so energizing as the fresh air and the smell of grass. The smell of nature. I opened my eyes and witnessed all the groups of people below me. The happy couples who thought they were in love. A group of guys running around punching each others arms just to prove who was the strongest, thereby the uncrowned king of the group. They reminded me of a pack of wolves. Trying to prove their superiority or just fight to get the females. That is just what these humans did. I could see that every guy that successfully landed a punch on another quickly glanced at the girls sitting beside watching and smiling back.  
  
Bah! The entire scenery was pathetic. The couples didn't love each other. They just needed someone. That just shows how weak they really are. It was just foolish to depend on another person. Besides, one of them was sure to break up with the other, causing so much unwanted feeling and making it really tense between the two. Why even get involved in a relationship if that is sure to be the outcome?  
  
And the girls flashing their false smiles towards the pack of humans. The only reason they were doing that was probably because they wanted to start another pathetic relationship with someone of the wolves. Or, they just wanted to feel they were part of a group. A group of "friends" They would think they were their friends no matter how much cruelty they got in return. I couldn't stand it anymore. I was going home to spend my afternoon and quit school. Then I would spend my summer holiday training and putting up with Carl's stupid jokes and comments.  
  
It was when I was walking towards my bike when the pack of humans caught up with me.  
  
Matt, the leader, was the one that always walked in the front and the one that started the fights. He was looking for one right now.  
  
"Vince, Vince, Vince. What is to become of you? Nobody wants a rat like you anyway. " Matt said with a grin.  
  
(If that wasn't a poor attempt to make me mad, I don't know what is.)  
  
"You should be more concerned about who would want someone with your grades, Matt." I said calmly.  
  
Nobody had told me his grades but I still knew that Matt only was better than the students with a mental dysfunction.  
  
His eyes became sharper and proved that I had hit a weak spot. He stared at me as he tried to come up with a clever response. He couldn't, so I turned around and unlocked my bike.  
  
"Wouldn't you trade grades with me if you got your dad back, Vincent? Because my dad helped me with my homework and I am glad that he is still around." Came the response  
  
I stood up straight, but didn't say anything as I clenched my fists.  
  
"Who helped you, Vincent? Because someone like you can't get those grades by yourself. Maybe you walked to the park bench were your dad lives and asked if he could help you?" Matt grinned proudly. Who wouldn't get mad at something like that?  
  
I could feel my eyes turning from the usual grey colour to a furious black. I wanted to jump Matt and beat him to a pulp. And I probably would've if it were just he and I. But now he had six other guys with him. If I jumped Matt, the others would jump me.  
  
"No dad is better than a bad one." I said as I unclenched my fists and hopped onto my bike.  
  
"Have a nice summer you piece of shit!" Matt yelled as I pedalled away.  
  
During the long way home, I started thinking. Who would care if I disappeared or even died? I mean, I haven't got any real friends and my mom is so busy with her new boyfriend Carl. Would anyone cry at my funeral? Would anyone say: "He was a good boy" or "Why Vincent? I miss him so bad."  
  
Not likely! That is one thing I have learned about people. You can't trust anyone, if you do, you'll get hurt.  
  
As I began my way up the hill to our house, I lifted my eyes off the road and saw it. A huge tidal wave of light flooding at me. I don't know why, but I felt warm and safe. I stretched out my arms and lifted my face up into the sky. Just before the wave struck me, I closed my eyes and thought: (This is it, this is where I die.) And I didn't mind.  
  
I opened my eyes and saw.myself I was floating in mid-air and when I looked down, I saw my own body on my still moving bike. The wave hit my bike and it was dissolved into the same light as in the wave. My leather shoes transformed into a pair of black and red sneakers, the light followed up my legs, making my beige pants into baggy, black shorts that stopped a little bit under my knees. My shirt transformed into a sandy white v-necked T-shirt. The light streamed into my hands, dressing them with a pair of black fingerless gloves.  
  
The light faded off and I found myself lying outside our house. But was it our house? It looked exactly the same on the outside but all our neighbours were different. Instead of having apartments in the middle of the city, it was villas with a lot of trees and green around them.  
  
And where was the city? In every direction I looked there was mountain, forest or grassy fields. Only one road was leaping in the middle of the houses so it kind of reminded me of a modern western town. I looked at the mailbox beneath our house: Welcome to Elina and Vincent Grey. Something was missing. Carl's name that my mom had painted to the mailbox was gone.  
  
I darted up to the house and pulled the door open with all my might.  
  
"Hi honey! How was school?" My mom said as she stood by the sink, drying the dishes. "  
  
"I guess it was fine." The confusion in my voice was obvious. At least to me it was.  
  
"Did you learn anything special in school today?" Mom said as if she was interested  
  
"Mom, where's Carl?"  
  
"Carl? Is he a new friend of yours? Was he supposed to wait for you here?"  
  
"No, Mom. Not a friend of mine. Your boyfriend, Carl. You know, big, bald and stupid?"  
  
She put down the dishes and looked at me with worried eyes. "What are you talking about, Vincent? I've never had another man besides your father. Have you bumped your head?" She walked over to me and started examine my head.  
  
I violently pulled away from her. "Mom, I'm fine!" (Except the fact that I think I'm insane!)  
  
"Oh, okay. Then you must've dreamed that about me having a boyfriend. Because I certainly don't have one!" She walked back to her dishes.  
  
I didn't say anything, I just walked up to my room to lie down on my bed and think.  
  
(Let's sum this up. I woke up, got dressed, went to school and got my grades. Argued with Matt and went home. Now it starts getting weird. I remember a bright light and then much later, I'm on the ground outside our house. In clothes I didn't have when I woke up. Carl is gone, Mom has no idea what I'm talking about and my bike is gone. Mom is gonna kill me for losing that bike.)  
  
That was the last on Vincent's mind before he fell asleep.  
  
  
  
So, What did you think? For your information, I've rewritten this and some other chapters because I reread them one day and frankly, they sucked. So hopefully, this is better :) Remember, it is your opinion that means the most to me. Let me know that opinion. / Yorun 


	2. The Unexpected

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game or TV show If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 2: The Unexpected  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
  
  
  
  
The sun awoke and started to light up the whole world. The light searched its way in through the window on the second floor and opened the eyes of a young man.  
  
(Aaah, man, morning already?)  
  
He sat up in his bed and opened the closet door. The sight he saw made him feel dizzy and he had to sit back down. All his clothes were gone and in their place were a lot of new ones. All the same.  
  
The same black shorts The same T-shirt And the same gloves  
  
He looked around him and noticed his room to be different. It was clean, nothing was on the floor except for the clothes he had put there the night before. His desk had a computer on it and everything was rearranged.  
  
(Couldn't Mom at least have told me that she threw away my clothes? Sure, they were old but I really liked some of them. And shouldn't she ask me before moving around the things in my room?) As any normal fifteen-year-old boy, I was hungry and the smell of pancakes coming from downstairs was really inviting.  
  
I walked to the bathroom, which is right next to my bedroom, and splashed my face with cold water to wake up. Then I walked downstairs to get some breakfast.  
  
"Good morning, Vincent. Did you sleep well?" Mom said looking like she had been up for hours and had the time to freshen up.  
  
"Fine, I guess. But Mom, why didn't you tell me that you were going to rearrange my room? And what did you do to all my clothes?" I sat down at the table  
  
"What? I haven't even been up to your room since the day before yesterday."  
  
"Sooo. You're saying you haven't done anything to my clothes or my furniture?"  
  
"That's right"  
  
(What the hell is going on?)  
  
"Vincent, I'm starting to worry about you. First, you start on about me having a boyfriend. And now, you talk about me doing something to your room? I haven't done anything. It's always been like that."  
  
(Then why do I remember differently?)  
  
"Now eat your breakfast, you need a lot of energy for the day and the first meal is the most important one, remember that!" She sat a large plate of warm, golden brown pancakes in front of me.  
  
(This. is not right. Nothing is right! I have more than one kind of clothes! My room looks different! Mom has a boyfriend! She has never, ever made breakfast for me!)  
  
"Your suitcase is at the door, Vincent."  
  
(I live in the city, not in the country! And.) "What?" I looked up on my mom as she broke my line of thought.  
  
"I said that your suitcase is at the door. The bus comes in ten minutes, you know."  
  
"What bus?"  
  
"Don't be stupid, you know exactly what I'm talking about!" She threw a brochure down at the table beside me with a big smile.  
  
I picked up the brochure and only had to read the first words.  
  
(As I said. things aren't right. There are no such things as Pokémon where I come from.)  
  
The headline was spelled with big, red letters and read: The Pokémon Academy - The future trainers, today.  
  
I showed the front to my mom "This. is where I'm going?"  
  
"Of course it is! Oh Vincent, you've worked so hard for this and now finally, your dream has come true! But I always knew that you would get the grades needed to enter the Academy. I'm so proud of you!" She threw her arms around me and hugged me as hard as she could.  
  
A loud horn was heard and through the kitchen window, we saw a large, yellow bus stand outside our house.  
  
"That's your bus, Vincent. My baby is all grown up." She dried a tear and scooted me towards the door. She handed me a large, black suitcase and a backpack seemingly packed to the brim.  
  
"Don't forget to call me. Or I will hunt you down!" She smiled and hugged me again.  
  
I was practically thrown out the door and gave my suitcase to the fat man, who appeared to be the bus driver.  
  
"Vincent Grey?"  
  
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm Vincent Grey."  
  
"Get on."  
  
(Is it a rule that all bus drivers has to be in a bad mood? Ah, never mind. It's his problem. Why should I care?)  
  
I had expected the bus to be filled with loud, immature teens, throwing paper planes and paper balls at each other. But the sight was to my liking. The bus was almost filled, yes, but not with the type of teens I had expected. Everyone was looking either at me for a short second and then out the window again. Everybody behaved like they didn't want to be sharing their seat with someone they didn't know except some who seemed to know each other. They looked almost as clueless as I felt.  
  
I sat down at an empty seat and threw the backpack under my seat. Everything was happening so fast! Nothing made sense anymore. Things weren't like they should be.  
  
(Especially this.) I pulled out the brochure Mom had given me earlier and began reading it, trying to figure out where I was going.  
  
Turning the front page, faded pictures from the Academy appeared as background for the text.  
  
_______________________________  
  
The Pokémon Academy is a school that only accepts students that have proved during the nine years of elementary school that they have what it takes both mentally and physically. If the final grades are up to the standards of the Academy, the student can send in an application to the school.  
  
The school will teach the students everything needed to know about surviving on their own, about Pokémon and how to train them. During the two month long course, the students themselves will have several gym classes a week for the shape maybe needed during their time as a Trainer.  
  
Every student will receive a Pokémon and a Pokédex from the Academy.  
  
_______________________________  
  
After having read the introduction on the brochure, I wasn't sure what to think. It was really hard to believe but I could hear other people talking about the Academy and what it would be like.  
  
One thing was for sure. I wasn't at home anymore.  
  
(Guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. This Academy sounds interesting enough.)  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
The bus made it's way through the landscape as many of the people on the bus kept on talking to each other. Vincent even heard someone talk about him but he didn't really care. They could talk about him all they wanted, he didn't like them anyway. Instead, they could go back to chatting about whatever thing they had before. In his eyes, they were just another face, not potential girlfriends or even friends. He was fine alone. Always had been.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
When we arrived at the Pokémon Academy at noon, we, and three other buses with people, were instantly lead to a great auditorium. On the stage stood a man with jeans and a white shirt tucked into his pants, revealing six Pokéballs.  
  
"Welcome. I am Johnny Lindow. I am the headmaster and a teacher at this Academy. In the following months, you will be trained to become a Pokémon trainer. A trainer who can look after himself and use nature's resources, a trainer who is skilled in the art of battling Pokémon and to take care of them."  
  
"Welcome, to the Pokémon Academy"  
  
After Johnny's speech, we got divided into four classes, A, B, C and D. I ended up in B. Me and the other students in class B followed Johnny out through the school and to the dormitories.  
  
"These are the dorms of class B, your class. I want you all to come inside and take a look at your homes for the following months and so that we can go through the rules."  
  
Johnny walked into the building with all of us following him. I had estimated us to be about twenty people in every class, and us twenty were going to live together?! My deepest fear was if the dorms were for two people. Then Johnny, would say: "Now I want you to divide into pairs of two." I could see in front of me the picture of me standing alone without someone to share rooms with.  
  
I shook the thought out of my mind and followed everyone else into what seemed like a living room. The room had sofas and chairs in black leather and in the middle of the room, there were two large tables next to a fireplace in the wall. I sat down in a comfy chair and watched Johnny talk.  
  
"Everyone, this is the living room of your dorms. You are free to come here and read or do whatever it is you want. This is also the place we will meet every morning at eight to go over the day's activities." Johnny said with a serious look on his face.  
  
One of the girls raised her hand in the air.  
  
"Yes, tell us your name and your question." Johnny said as he looked at the girl.  
  
"My name is Anna Trefan. I wanna know what you mean by "Every day". Aren't we supposed to have the weekend off?" She asked with shyness in her voice.  
  
"Since it is such a short course and you all are top students, we are going to have lessons every day. Both theoretical and practical." Johnny answered  
  
"The rules for these dorms are as follows:" He read off a piece of paper  
  
"No alcoholic beverages are allowed No one is permitted outside the dorms after eleven pm The guys stay on their side of the dorms and the girls on theirs after eleven pm No playing of music without headphones after ten pm The one who leaves the living room last, puts out the fire."  
  
"I think that was all, if anyone has any further questions, don't be afraid to ask." A smile covered his lips.  
  
"The dorms are all separate. We believe that every person needs his own personal space. We have sorted you by your last name so that we can know who lives where and so on."  
  
He started going through the list of people and telling them which room was theirs, starting with the guys.  
  
"Nr 4: Vincent Grey" Johnny pointed at a door with the number 15 in shiny brass on it.  
  
"Before you all get inside, just one more thing." Johnny said holding his finger up in the air.  
  
"Feel like home, and be prepared for the best month of school you've ever had." Johhny said as he smiled.  
  
(Feel like home. Not likely. But I think Johnny may be right on one point. This might be the best time in school I've ever had. That's up for time to decide. Now, it's time to sleep.)  
  
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto."  
  
  
  
That's chapter two for your reading pleasure (hopefully.) Please, don't forget to review my fics. I need the encouragement to continue writing!! Thank you for reading. / Yorun 


	3. Partner For Life

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game or TV show If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 3: Partner For Life  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " People speaking  
  
( ) A person's thoughts  
  
  
  
"WAKE UP EVERYBODY!" The powerful voice of Johnny Lindow echoed in my ears and woke me out of my slumber. At first, I wanted to go back to sleep. Then I realized where I was. I was in a small room with two closets to the left when you opened the door. At the same wall as the closets were a desk. The bed that I was sleeping in was to the left wall and between the desk and the bed was a window. The door flung open and I quickly sat myself up.  
  
"Vincent Grey, You've got three minutes to dress and then we are going to start without you." Johnny said as he closed the door again.  
  
I quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed my baggy shorts. (I've grown to like this kind of clothes by now.) I stepped out of my room and felt the tingling cold of the floor against my bare feet. All of the ten girls were out of their beds and already in the nice sofas of the living room. I quickly eyed them all with my sleepy eyes. None of them were any fat and I presume that all of them were classed as either "nerds" or "brainiacks" at my old school. But no one was what you can say ugly. Actually, they were all cute. Not that I was interested.  
  
"Glad you could join us, Vincent." Johnny said as he had finished building a nice fire. I guess he addressed me the way he did because I was the first guy to enter the room.  
  
I said nothing as I sat down in the same chair as yesterday. I noticed a couple of girls glancing at my direction and someone was giving an elbow and a quick point at me. When all twenty was in the room, Johnny began talking.  
  
"Good morning everyone. Had a nice sleep?" He asked as he looked around at every one of us not expecting a response.  
  
"Today we are going to get more familiar with what you are here for. The Pokémon. You are all going to receive a Pokémon today." Johnny said with the usual serious look in his eyes.  
  
There was a swoosh going through the class. And all of them looked at each other in confusion and expectation.  
  
"Since you are going to share your life and be together very long with the Pokémon you choose, we have prepared to give you some info on all the Pokémon we offer."  
  
"You can choose from these six: Sandshrew, Aipom, Mareep, Poliwag, Charmander and Machop. Now don't make up your mind just yet. The information you'll get makes a big difference."  
  
Johnny pulled a red rectangular item out of his pocket.  
  
"This is a Pokédex. It contains data of every known Pokémon and records data if you would find a new type of Pokémon. I am going to call out everybody's name and then you raise your hand to receive your Pokédex." Johnny opened up a big bag and started a Pokédex to see whom it was registered to.  
  
"Anna Trefan" Johnny looked at the girl with the shoulder length hair and gave it to her  
  
"Thanks, mr Lindow!" Anna said as she opened her Pokédex  
  
"Wendy Sullivan"  
  
"Oh, Oh, That's me!" A girl quickly raised her hand as high as she could trying to become more visible since she was the shortest person in the room  
  
"Jak Davis" Johnny said as he looked into the direction where the other guys were.  
  
"Yeah, that's me" A tall guy with moderately long hair, a white T-shirt and blue jeans said as he stood up and walked over to receive his Pokédex. I didn't like him. He was too sure of himself. He acted like he owned the room.  
  
"Lee Stone"  
  
"Yup, I'm here" An even shorter guy than myself stood up beside me and received his one.  
  
"Vincent Grey"  
  
Not saying anything, I just stood up and got the red metal piece.  
  
A few minutes later, when the bag was empty, Johnny stood up and shushed everybody down since the room was filled with electronical voices and bleeps from the newly acquired Pokédexes.  
  
"Your first lesson starts right now so be quiet. When you've started up your Pokédex, just type in the name of the Pokémon you want info on and it will tell you all it knows. If there is anything special you want to know about the Pokémon, just ask the Pokédex and it will tell you since it is programmed to respond to your voice. I will give you the rest of this lesson off so that you can learn about the Pokémon you are offered. In one hour, I want everybody to have made up their minds and are ready to receive their first partner for life. Your first Pokémon." Johnny said and sat down and got ready to answer questions.  
  
I raised my hand to speak.  
  
"Yes, Vincent?" Johnny said as he pointed his whole hand at me.  
  
"May I go outside to think?" I asked trying to sound as mature as possible.  
  
"Yes, you can, just be sure to be back in one hour."  
  
I got back into my dorm, leaving the others in my back. I picked up a clean T-shirt and pulled it over myself.  
  
(God, I gotta get myself some new shirts. The shorts are fine but I definitely need some new shirts.)  
  
I walked out of the dorms and breathed in the morning air. I headed over to a big tree at the edge of a forest and sat down, letting the sunrays warm me up. I slipped the Pokédex out of my leg pocket and started it up. I entered Sandshrews name and the screen immediately showed a picture of a beige Pokémon on two legs. It had a muscular tail and short arms with medium sized claws. Its entire body was covered in a plated pattern that I didn't know what it was. What captured me was its eyes. The eyes were almost like as on a shark, dark and lifeless. But with a spark in it. They were almost dark blue and looked very alive and at the same time as it had a killer instinct.  
  
"Dislikes water, it burrows deep underground at night to protect itself from water but It is a tough Pokémon that can save itself even if it fell from great height by rolling into a ball and bounce." The metallic voice echoed through my ears and my mind started working.  
  
(A tough Pokémon indeed. Not many can fall from high up and walk away. But I don't like the water weakness. If it can't resist some rain, then it is no match for a water gun or hydro pump.) I discarded the Sandshrew but let it rest in my mind if nothing better should show up.  
  
A.I.P.O.M I spelled and saw the purple and beige monkey Pokémon. My first impression was how silly it looked with those big eyes, big smile and hand- like thing at the end of its tail. The monkey looked really weak but maybe the look was deceiving. I decided to listen to my new Pokédex.  
  
"It lives in tall trees. It has a powerful tail that it can lift itself up with. The tail also helps it keep balance when it leaps from tree to tree" The Pokédex stated  
  
(It sounds strong if it can lift itself up with it's tail but how much does this one weigh? 10 kg? That is not much to lift. A fast Pokémon maybe, but not a strong one.)  
  
"How about Mareep then?" I thought out loud  
  
To my surprise, the picture of a small sheep-like Pokémon appeared on the screen.  
  
(O, I forgot, this thing reacts on my voice, cool!)  
  
"The wool builds up static electricity and if you touch it, you will get shocked. It sheds its fleece once a year but it grows back in a week."  
  
(Seriously, how strong is static electricity? It only tickles a little. and how strong can this ball of yarn be? I guess a lot of the girls will choose this one. But wait, its evolutions?) I pushed the forward button and I saw a picture of another ball of yarn. Only bigger, and with a little less wool. Flaafy. I tried to get out some facts but I couldn't on it. I guessed that they only had programmed the Pokémon that we could choose. I pressed forward once again and saw the picture of a big yellow and black Pokémon that seemed gentle and nice. It had some sort of light bulb on its head and tail.  
  
(Interesting, but no thanks, I will feel like a sissy if I choose this one.)  
  
"Poliwag" I said loud and clearly.  
  
The small dark blue tadpole appeared and the Pokédex automatically started speaking.  
  
"The small, new grown legs prevent this tadpole Pokémon from running so it spend more time in water than on land. The spiral on its belly can change direction depending on the area. Scientists believe that it has something to do with the equator."  
  
(A Pokémon that can hardly walk?! Now that doesn't sound too good! But it has got to evolve into something better!) I sceptically thought with a frown.  
  
I pushed the forward button and saw a Pokémon with a big belly, thin arms and longer legs than Poliwag. I read Poliwhirl on the screen and pushed the forward button. I stared at an option. It read: "Poliwrath or Politoed?" I could switch up and down with the arrow keys on my Dex. I first took Poliwrath as it was the first option. The whole screen was filled with a muscular Pokémon with short legs that looked like they could kick a whole in concrete. And the arms were big. Really big. I pushed the back button and I found myself at the screen with the option. I decided to have a look at Politoed. The green and yellow Pokémon took its place and I carefully eyed it. It didn't look too strong. It looked like a mutated earth frog. The feet had three small rounded toes and the hands had three small fingers that looked like small bumps.  
  
(Oh, boy. Three out of four look kinda useless. But it has four different evolutions, that is good!)  
  
"Charmander"  
  
I found myself staring at a small, lizard-like Pokémon and I carefully listened to what the Dex had to say about it.  
  
"The flame on its tail indicates the strength and life force. If the flame is weak, then so is Charmander. If it rains, there is steam formed at the tail."  
  
(Not much info there. But I will take a look if it has any evolutions.)  
  
The button was used and a fierce looking, red Pokémon with big claws on both its feet and hands. My eyes widened as I stared at this amazing Charmeleon.  
  
I quickly pressed the button again and held my breath. I witnessed a majestic Pokémon with big wings, razor sharp claws and wings. It could fly. Charizard could fly.  
  
(I can definitely see the potential in this one! It can fly, it is big, strong and all!) My mind was racing. (What possibilities! Oh, yeah, one more to go.)  
  
"Machop"  
  
I laid my eyes on a short, greyish Pokémon.  
  
"Machop loves to work out and build its muscles. It is always brimming with power and it is never satisfied even if it trains all day and night. It has skills in all kinds of martial arts and that makes it a powerful opponent."  
  
I pressed the forward button without thinking and eyed a Pokémon who looked like it was a real bodybuilder. It had muscles everywhere! I read the name Machoke and pressed the forward button again. I was a little bit surprised when I saw the next evolution. A four-armed mountain of pure muscle.  
  
(That's it.) I stood up from the tree and started walking towards the dorms and Johnny Lindow. I never had an option. It was perfect.  
  
I landed in the living room and Johnny looked up from a girl's Pokédex and said:  
  
"Already done Vincent?" The anticipation in his eyes was easy to see  
  
"Yes, I have decided."  
  
"Then tell me Vincent. What Pokémon do you choose? Sandshrew, Aipom, Mareep, Poliwag, Charmander or Machop?" Johnny said as he held out six Pokéballs in his hands  
  
I stood silent for a moment and finally said:  
  
"I will take Machop"  
  
  
  
  
  
Fooled you, didn't I? ;) / Yorun 


	4. Lessons For Life

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game or TV show If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 4: Lessons For Life  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
  
  
"Great, all of you have a Pokémon and it is now time for your first lesson: Pokémon Ethology." Johnny said as he put his hands together  
  
I had done this lesson in school already. It was about how animals behave and why they behaved like that. It was actually one topic in biology that was fun and I had aced the exam.  
  
But that wasn't on Pokémon. So I dismissed the thought that I would know anything on the subject and listened to what Johnny had to say.  
  
"Now, if all of you follow me so that we can begin." He began walking out of the living room and all of class B followed out of the dorms, across the school yard and out to a big, green field that looked like a soccer field, only that there were no lines or goals.  
  
"This lesson is supposed to teach you and your Pokémon to understand each other. If you can't understand each other, you will have lots of difficulties training and becoming partners."  
  
After a short silence, Johnny looked at all of us. "Well? What are you waiting for? Release your partners"  
  
Looking at each other, the class reached for their Pokéballs and pressed the release button. The first one to release his Pokémon was Jak. In the corner of my eye, I had seen him fumble with his Pokéball just as if was a competition he just had to win.  
  
A Sandshrew. It didn't have the "round" shapes like all other Sandshrews. Instead, it was a bit bigger and the usual round eyes, ears and tail had a bit more edge to them.  
  
Everybody released their Pokémon and watched in awe at their new partner.  
  
I joined in and released my Machop. I pressed the release button on the Pokéball and the sphere opened and let the white energy flow out to take its form.  
  
As the light faded, I found myself watching my first Pokémon. My very own Machop.  
  
It was small. It only reached about up to half my thigh with the comb on its head. It looked like it hadn't done anything else than training its entire life! I had seen guys that worked out for a few years and had fewer muscles than this guy.  
  
The short Pokémon eyed its surroundings and finally looked straight into my eyes.  
  
Johnny began wlking around in a circle "The first thing you and your Pokémon must work on is your communication. That is why this class is very important. I want you to interact with your Pokémon and I will be walking around and checking how things go."  
  
(Allright... what to start with? If I am gonna live with this fella for a long time, I can't just call him Machop. A name. Gotta find a name for his guy.)  
  
Machop began stretching out his legs and as the girls looked at him, he tightened all his muscles and the girls started giggling.  
  
I crossed my arms and loocked down at the ground, scanning my mind, searching for a suitable name to this humanlike creature.  
  
Sudenly, it just came to me and it was indeed a good name...but that was not for me to decide. I kneeled down to get on the same eyelevel as the Machop.  
  
"Hey, you, machop. I have thought of a name for you. But it is up to you if you want to keep it or not."  
  
Machop tilted his head and looked at me in a way that could only mean that it wanted to know more.  
  
"Slate"  
  
He crossed his arms and looked at the ground, reminding me of myself a little.  
  
I felt a strong hand on my shoulder and quickly stood up "You see Vincent? You have only had your Machop for a short while and it is already influenced by you. Do you realize now how imortant it is that you are strong as a trainer to train a strong Pokémon?"  
  
"I'm only beginning to see the tip of the iceberg aren't I?"  
  
He smiled "Actually, you can't even see the tip because you are looking at the fog."  
  
Johnny walked away, checking on some of the girls standing further away.  
  
I felt a slight nudge on my left leg and looked down. Machop was standing there, he looked right into my grey eyes and I looked down at his blue. Then, he smiled.  
  
Not being sure, I wanted confirmation. "Slate?"  
  
The short Machop took a step back and reached ut his hand towards me, still smiling. I kneeled back down and couldn't help but smile a little. I grabbed his hand, just a little smaller than mine, folding my fingers around the base of his thumb, as he did the same with mine.  
  
"Then Slate it is."  
  
Apparently, having walked around to everyone, Johnny walked into the middle of the circle again and stood there in silence.  
  
After a few moments, he spoke. "Every single Pokémon is special. They are all unique, just like us humans. But, remember this: Pokémon usually pick up on some of the characteristics of its trainer. And you can usually see who the trainer are through his or her Pokémon. I want you to discover what kind of Pokémon you have on your own. I am giving you the rest of the day off. You are to be back at the dorms at eight o clock tonight and I will have a personal talk with all of you. You may leave now."  
  
The ring dissolved, leaving only me and Slate left.  
  
Johnny looked up at us "Was there something else, Vincent?"  
  
Slate and I walked towards Johnny "Yes there was, I was just wondering if you have a gym at the school, with weights and a gym hall."  
  
"Well yes, we do. I'll show you the way."  
  
We reached a large building with two separate doors on either side.  
  
(Probably dressing rooms.)  
  
Opening the door, Johnny began talking  
  
"You see Vincent, the gym is open at all times for people and Pokémon to train in."  
  
When we entered the massive hall, we were met by two different sections. To the right were the excersise machines and the weights. And to my left was the hall. Complete with ropes and rings in the ceiling, basketball hoops and soccer goals to the far sides. There were pillars in the middle of the building to create invisible walls between the two sections.  
  
"As you can see , we have everything for both sports and serious training. I presume you know how all of these things work?"  
  
Being surprised that he didn't show me how all the excersise machines worked and lecturing me on safety, I looked up at him.  
  
"I do."  
  
"But remember that you are responsible for both your Pokémon and your own safety. Don't take any risks ok?"  
  
(There it was... Always the safety thing...) "I understand. No risks." I deliberatley made it sound as I was tired, hoping he would pick up on the hint that we wanted to be alone.  
  
"Good, If there is anything else, I'll be in the dorms."  
  
He left, leaving only me and Slate in the hall.  
  
(Good, now lets see what this little thing can do.)  
  
"Slate" He immeadiately looked up at me  
  
"Since we are going to be together for some time, I want to see what you are capable of."  
  
  
  
Again, tell me your thoughts. / Yorun 


	5. A New Classmember

I do not own Pokémon.  
  
But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game  
  
If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 5: A New Classmember  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
Translated Pokémon speech  
  
  
  
"Okay Vincent. These meetings are for me to check what you think about the days at the Academy so far. And what you did your first time with your Pokémon. Because just the first hours can really tell alot what kind of trainer you are going to be."  
  
Johnnys office was just in between the girls and guys dorms and was nothing much really. Just a desk in the middle of the room and a computer beside it. On the walls hung four plates and with a closer look, I could see that all of them contained eight different badges, Just like the ones Johnny had spoken of in a previous lesson.  
  
I wasn't sure if I wanted to know wether I was a bad trainer or a good one. I just wanted to graduate from this academy and find that out for myself. Just as I wanted to know how i got here in the first place.  
  
"Are you going to tell me what kind of trainer you think I am?"  
  
"No, not now anyway. On the day of your graduation we let you decide if you want to know or not. But I won't tell anyone today."  
  
"Fine then. You wanted to know what I think of the Academy right?"  
  
"Yes, but I am even more interested in what you did with your Machop"  
  
"First things first. This school is much better than my old one. The people are all serious about what they are doing here... well almost everyone."  
  
"And who is it that are not so serious?" Johnny picked up a pen to take some notes  
  
"Jak Davis. He is just fooling around and makes it hard to focus for some of the others."  
  
"I will see what I can do about that. But now, what did you do with your Machop? I know you used the gym."  
  
"Well, when you had left, we sat up an obstacle course for me to see how his speed and stamina is. Then I pulled out the ropes and took the time he used to climb it, using just his arms." Why did it feel uncomfortable speeking? He had never spoken much, but it didn't feel right.  
  
"You didn't use the weights then?" Johnny was eagerly taking notes all the time  
  
"No, we didn't. We hadn't much time but I think that my arms will be sore tomorrow and Slate looked like he enjoyed it."  
  
"I see you listened to what I said before. It is important that you are a strong trainer if you want your Pokémon to be strong."  
  
"Can I go now?" Not wanting to sit there anymore, I stood up.  
  
"Yes you may."  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
A couple of weeks passed, Vincent's knowledge and Slate's strength grew. They both became closer and closer each day because of all the tme they spent togehter. Since they all were going to be separated later, Vincent used the time when all the others hung out with each other to either be training with Slate, or just sit and talk with him, trying to make a stronger bond. But then, three days before graduating, something happened. On a gym class, without Pokémon, Johny walked in along with someone.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
"Class B. Let me introduce you all to Sara Futura. She has transfered here from class A."  
  
¤-¤ Sara's POV ¤-¤  
  
Her stomache was turning, just entering the gym hall with twenty other people she had never met. Everybody probably knew everybody, then she comes along, knowing no one... being an outsider sucked. But then again, it was only for three days. Then she would hit the road.  
  
"Now come on people! Introduce yourselves." Johnny clapped his hands, getting the wanted attention  
  
Never being good with names, Sara decided to focus more on the people who were easy to remember. A certain look. A certain name.  
  
The first one to introduce herself was a short, energy filled girl with brown hair and warm, brown eyes.  
  
"Hiya! My name's Wendy Sullivan." She had walked up to Sara and was shaking her hand.  
  
When looking at the class, Sara could see four groups of people. The guys, and with a rather tall guy with a red headband and a smirk on his face in the front of them.  
  
"Jak Davis" He talked like he owned the world  
  
(Leader type...)  
  
Then, most of the girls stood in a group and was trying to get another girl's attention, maybe trying to come up with the smartest thing to say about Anna, just to feel like a part of the group.  
  
The girl in the middle was Anna Trefan, looking kind of superior in her sports bra and small shorts, she was the standard bitch... But hey... she could be wrong.  
  
"And what are YOU looking at!?"  
  
Nope... she was right  
  
She noticed Wendy was not really in the bitch group. She was standing beside the group, talking to some girls that looked a little nicer than the ones under Anna Trefan.  
  
Continuing her scan across the hall, she saw a guy standing at the line of ropes from the ceiling. He was by far the person who stood out the most. He was below average height but instead, he was wide over the shoulders and since he was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt, she could see the well shaped muscles on his arms. It was something special about the expression on his face. She was not sure but he looked really serious and his eyes were painted in a gray colour. The entire person was radiating a strange kind of energy.  
  
She found herself staring right into those mysterious eyes of his, then he said his name.  
  
"Vincent Grey"  
  
Wendy came up to Anna and pulled her towards the smaller group of girls in the middle of Anna and Jak.  
  
"Come on Sara, let's introduce you to the girls"  
  
¤-¤ Vincent's POV ¤-¤  
  
The new girl, Sara Futura had looked straight at him. And he had looked back. He didn't know why, but he had a hard time letting his eyes off her. She was about the same height as himself, maybe a little bit shorter, but not much. She had long, blond hair, tied up into a ponytail and sparkling, sea blue eyes. She was wearing a sports bra and a pair of loose training pants. He couldn't help but notice that when Wendy had pulled her away, she had a fit body and he could see her abs but it was not like his, a washboard.  
  
"Allright people! Thats it. Now get back to work! Vincent, Jak and Lee. You climb the ropes up and down five times. And remember, you are not allowed to use your legs."  
  
¤-¤ Sara's POV ¤-¤  
  
The three guys placed themselves a couple of steps away from the ropes and waited for Johnny to give the sign, and the first one could start.  
  
"Five times?! Can they really do that? The guys in our class has major trouble to do one!" Anna whispered to Wendy who already had been really nice to her.  
  
"It is quite much huh? From the start, only Vincent could do that much and all the others was like your class. But Johnny has been really hard on us and now everybody can do at least one."  
  
"GO!"  
  
Everybody's eyes turned on the guy that just had jumped onto the ropes and begun their way up to the far away ceiling. Anna saw that Lee was the shortest guy, thereby the lightest. But he was too weak and climbed up to the rope one time, tried it again and came up to the ceiling. But when he had reached the ground, he laid down panting.  
  
"I'm next!" Jak looked at Vincent in spite.  
  
"Go ahead..." Vincent couldn't help but smile a little... Jak tried so hard to beat him in this rope-climbing. But so far, he had never won.  
  
"GO!"  
  
Jak was a fast runner, but he slowed down when it came to climbing the rope. He made it through the first two ups and downs okay. But then it just got slower and slower. You had to give it to him that he was really determined. When he reached the ceiling for the fourth time, he began his way down.  
  
Sara thought his arms must have been totally worn out because when he let go of the upper hand to get a lower hold, he lost both hands and fell.  
  
On the floor below, there was only a thin mattress and it would certainly not save him. When Jak began to fall, the entire room was filled with gasps and screams from some. He fell with his back first and Jak knew that he would not just stand up and walk away. He would probably break his back and be paralyzed if he lived.  
  
Just when he was about to hit the floor, a pair of arms caught him. When he looked up, he saw a pair of grey eyes that could only belong to one person. Vincent. He sat Jak down and looked at Johnny coldly.  
  
"I guess it's my turn now."  
  
"Vincent, that was amazing! But it was not a smart thing to do. You could have broken your back!" He didn't know wether he was happy that one of his students still lived, or if he was mad because he wasn't there, or if he was just shocked.  
  
"And if I hadn't caugh him, Jak would have broken his back. But, nothing got broken so I guess everyone is happy now." Vincent walked over to the ropes and looked at Johnny  
  
"My turn now?"  
  
Johnny just shook his head and couldn't believe what he had just seen and heard. One of his own students had caught a fellow classman from a fall of more than five metres. And he was still standing there, wanting to continue with the lesson like nothing had happened! It was too much.  
  
"Class dismissed. I am going to take Jak to the infirmary. I want all of you to hit the showers. Vincent, you look fine so you can stay if you want to. But don't do what Jak did okay?"  
  
When Jak fell, Sara and Wendy had grabbed hold of each other and were just now letting go. They didn't say anthing at all. Just looked at each other and went to shower and dress.  
  
  
  
Just so ya know, I am gonna write Vincent as "he" instead of "I". I have decided that is is gonna be easier now when Sara has joined the game... ;)  
  
hope someone is still reading this, and if you are, then you know that lil button in the bottom of this page? It says "Submit review" I strongly suggest you to use that button. ;)  
  
Thanks fo reading!  
  
/  
  
Yorun 


	6. Fight To Win

I do not own Pokémon.  
  
But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game  
  
If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 6: Fight To Win  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
Translated Pokémon speech  
  
Before the story continues: Pikajenn and Matt Morwell. I just wanna say thanks for reading this story and answering my questions. You guys have helped me alot. You are both great writers. Thanks.  
  
  
  
  
  
After the short gym lesson, Sara knew that she had to speak with someone about Vincent. It would either be Wendy so that she could tell more about him. Or, she would speak with him herself to get her own idea of him. She decided to do both. First talk with Vincent, and later that night, talk with Wendy. She had let Sara sleep in her room for the last three days since the class B dorm was already filled up.  
  
She found him under a large oak tree, just staring at the ground, seemingly in deep thought. She watched him for a moment there, and asked herself why she wanted to know more about him? Why was she feeling so curious about him? She had never felt like this for anyone that's for sure. She walked a little closer.  
  
"Vincent?"  
  
He looked up and saw Sara standing there with the sunset in her back, making her blond ponytail shine like a golden river.  
  
"Sara, right?"  
  
"Yeah, that's me. Why are you sitting out here? Everybody else is inside and some are still talking about what you did today." She didn't really know what to say, just talked on trying to get some of his characteristics through the way he spoke.  
  
"I like it better out here, and if I would go inside, the people that were talking about me are just trying to start a stupid conversation."  
  
"Are you sure they are gonna start a stupid conversation? Am I doing that right now?"  
  
"I've lived together with this class for about two months and we haven't talked that much. Why start now? We are gonna be separated in three days anyway. Besides, I don't know what kind of person you are yet so this might get intersting."  
  
Sara had all the time thought that he would be the strong silent type that never showed a smile. But she wasn't sure where she had Vincent Grey. When all the class was present, he stood with his arms crossed and looking like the kind of guy with a bad attitude problem. But now, he was smiling a little bit and his voice sounded mature but still filled with energy.  
  
"You know, I just wanted to say that what you did today in gym class was great. But I still can't understand how you could do it! You just jumped right in there not thinking twice, and how you managed to catch him is still a mystery to me." Sara took a chance. He might think she was starting a stupid conversation like he had said and just walk away. But then again... he might answer.  
  
Vincent looked back at the ground "It was just a reaction. Nothing special."  
  
She could take a hint. No more of that subject.  
  
"Vincent, what are you planning to do when we graduate? Take the Gym challenge like everyone else?" She had to change the subject, at least he wouldn't try to do so.  
  
(Find out how I got here. Why I got here.)  
  
"I... I don't know. Guess I am going to train, travel around the country. Don't know about the Gyms. I guess I'll decide when the time comes."  
  
He had to be nice... If it was someone else, he would have walked away by now or made them go away. But she... she was special.  
  
"So... what are you going to do then?" the lamest excuse for an ice breaker... but said was said  
  
"I don't know either. I'll maybe try a couple of gyms and if I win, I'll try em all. I've made it fine on all the surviving tests so I'll make it great in the wild!" Sara got excited just thinking about it.  
  
"That's great..." If anyone was bad with words, it was Vincent Grey.  
  
The sun had completely set now and the dew was making it's silent entry on the world.  
  
"Listen, I need to get to bed. Wendy is probably waiting for me." She was cold too  
  
"I'll go get some sleep too." He stood himself up and raised his hand. "It's nice to meet you." He tried to make the smile as warm as possible  
  
"Nice to meet you too, Vincent" The moment she touched his hand, she felt the hair rise in her neck.  
  
They both went into their rooms in the dorms.  
  
Vincent had never allowed himself to feel at home in his small room. He didn't believe in getting attached to things. Then you will just get a lot of sad emotions when you loose those things. But there was one exception. Slate. He felt like the Machop was someone he could trust. Someone that wouldn't leave or be cruel to him. He had watched Slate grow and become stronger. Eventhough he was relatively young, he had amazing strength. For a human that is. Vincent didn't know if Machops usually was like that, he had been in the world with Pokémon for two months. And they had only learned about the Pokémon that was already entered in the Pokédex.  
  
As he laid down on his bed. He couldn't help but think of Sara. Why had she talked to him? No one had tried to do that before. Except for that Wendy girl. She had tried to begin a conversation with him in the beginning of their stay at the academy but he had used few words and she had walked away to find someone more interesting he guessed. He wasn't sure what it was but Sara was special. She made him want to be nice and to smile. There wasn't a single person he knew that made him feel like that.  
  
(Why bother? I am gonna see her for two more days and then we are off to different ways. No feelings.)  
  
He rolled over and tried to sleep.  
  
Meanwhile, in Wendy's bedroom. Sara was lying on the floor in her jammies and sleeping bag while Wendy was spilling her guts on what she knew and thought about Vincent. She didn't know much but she had alot of thoughts now when she was asked about them.  
  
"Well, I have only talked with him, like, once and he didn't seem like a very funny guy. But then again, he doesn't hang with Jak and the other guys at all and that is kinda good, I think. Coz Jak and his crew are just immature and stupid. But why you so interested in him? Got the hots for him?" Wendy was smiling the whole time talking but the last sentence she broadened her smile even more and looked devilish at Sara.  
  
"What? No! I just think that he is... mysterious I guess. When I looked at him for the first time, he looked really grumpy and harsh. But when I talked to him I..."  
  
"You talked to him?! When?" Wendy was almost yelling  
  
"But when I talked to him half an hour ago, he talked some and I got a totally different impression of him."  
  
"All I know is that he is mostly outside with his Pokémon and that he is really strong. That's about it."  
  
"Yeah... he sure is strong... I mean, catching Jak like that! Amazing!"  
  
"Sure is, now I gotta sleep. We'll talk more in the morning, Sara. Nighty night!" She yawned and clicked the light off.  
  
"Night!" Now when thinking about it, Sara was really tired as well. And it didn't take long before falling asleep.  
  
The day after started as all the other days had. At eight o' clock in the morning, everyone was gathered in the living room to find out the days schedual as usual.  
  
"Today is not an ordinary day people. Since the graduation is tomorrow, we are going to have a Pokémon tournament."  
  
"The contestants will be matched up together by a lottery. The winners will face each other until the final two is decided. I have written your names on a piece of paper and put them all in this hat. The girls will be fighting each other and the boys will be fighting the boys. You get the picture " He held out his own, minty green cap that he usually wore on our gym lessons.  
  
The cap was soon empty and they all were led out to a large field were two battle fields were painted on the grass. It soon came to Vincent's knowledge that his first opponent was Lee Stone. A short guy but a true fighter. He never gave up. He only stopped doing something whe he was on the verge of breaking. Like the ropes for example. When he had stopped climbing, he laid on the floor for ten whole minutes. Exhausted.  
  
"Lee, Vincent. Your turn" Johnny motioned to the battle ground and they both took their places. None of them said a word. Just stared at each other. Since they had went through how to battle already, there were no need for words.  
  
"Oooh! This might get interesting" Wendy said  
  
"BEGIN"  
  
Vincent took out Slate's Pokéball, held it to his forehead (do your best). He enlarged it and tossed it into the arena. Slate materialized and looked ready to fight. Lee threw out his Pokèball and when the light had faded, a Poliwag stared at Slate.  
  
Not wanting to get into a hand to hand fight with the well trained Slate, Lee decided to keep him at a distance.  
  
"Poliwag, Bubble!"  
  
As Poliwag began spitting out bubbles at high speed, Vincent ordered his command.  
  
"Slate! Jump out of the way and Tackle Poliwag."  
  
In one swift move, Slate dodged the bubbles and jumped straight at Poliwag, sending it flying and landing next to Lee.  
  
"Poliwag, another Bubble attack!"  
  
This time, both Slate and Vincent were too slow and five bubbles hit Slate in the midsection, making him bend over, clutching his stomache.  
  
"Slate, Low kick!"  
  
Not being slow to react, Slate ran over to Poliwag and kicked it into the air.  
  
"Now, jump over it and Karate chop it to the ground!"  
  
Poliwag hit the ground with a thud. Slate landing next to it. Ready for more.  
  
"Come on Poliwag! Get up! Don't let them win! Get up!"  
  
But Poliwag stayed down.  
  
"The Winner is Vincent and his Machop!" Johnny lifted Vincen't hand in the air, declaring him as the winner.  
  
All the other fights were ok. None interesting, in fact, one girl couldn't even give commands to her Mareep. It ignored her. It was an easy win for her opponent, the Mareep was overconfident, it showed in its eyes. Everytime the opposing Aipom got in an attack, the eyes on the Mareep flared up into rage and was soon easily defeated.  
  
Vincent was one victory away from being the best of the boys. His opponent had won all his other mathches with ease. Not showing any mercy. His opponent was Jak Davis.  
  
"BEGIN!"  
  
Since Machop was faster and better at dodging than Jak's Sandshrew, Vincent decided to stand by.  
  
"Sandshrew! Scratch it!" Sandshrew raced towards Slate with incredible speed and made three deep cuts on Slate's right shoulder.  
  
"Sand Attack!" Clutching his arm in pain, Slate took the handful of sand right in the face, blinding him.  
  
"Tackle!" Sandshrew threw itself at Slate, sending him flying over to Vincent's side.  
  
"Slate! Are you ok? Vincent kneeled down to his Pokémon's side and looked straight into his eyes. The usually blue and calm eyes now looked like a storm of rage! In other words: He was pissed.  
  
"Listen, that Sandshrew is way faster than it looks. But I know that you are stronger! I want you to dodge the next physical attack, get behind it and Karate Chop it. Got it?" Staring at his opponent, Slate just nodded.  
  
"Use Scratch again!" Jak was a little lower in his voice this time. He stood with his arms crossed, knowing he would win.  
  
Slate stood his ground, watching the Sandshrew throw a hard, relatively slow downwards swipe aiming for his head. At the last second, Slate sidestepped, making the Sandshrew hit nothing but air. Slate spun 180 degrees and threw most of his power into a blow connecting with Sandshrews upper back, forcing it to the ground with a loud thud.  
  
"Tackle!"  
  
Sandshrew quickly got on his legs again and charged at Slate. Being prepared this time, he jumped into the air and rammed his feet in the back of Sandshrews neck as he volted over it.  
  
Sandshrew skidded across the ground and just as it stopped and forced itself back up, It's legs disappeared under it, being Low Kicked by a certain Machop.  
  
Wanting it to be a fair fight, Vincent ordered his next command. "Slate, back away!"  
  
"Get back up and use Fury Swipes! Don't let it get away!" Vincent could sense by the tone of Jak's voice and his body language that he wasn't so sure of winning anymore.  
  
Sandshrew once again charged at Slate, swinging furiously with powerful, fast swipes. Slate backed away as he desperately blocked the attacks coming at him. Vincent saw that if this was to continue, Slate would make a mistake and he would lose. The brave machop was panting and was getting more exhausted by the second. It was time to finish it. But it was a risky shot. He wasn't sure how much that Sandshrew had left. And he wasn't sure if Slate was too exhausted. Either way, it would end. He could only take the chance and hoping for the best.  
  
"Slate! Backflip!" Now there was some distance between the two Pokémon. But Sandshrew didn't even slow down, just kept racing towards the exhausted Machop. It was getting closer and closer real fast. Not much time!  
  
"Do it now!"  
  
Slate knew what was supposed to be done. He stood low, not wanting to get off balance. As Sandshrew was getting closer, he withdrew his right arm. Sandshrew was close enough now.  
  
It swiped to meet Slate's left side. But instead of hitting the head, it met with Slate's left arm and the last thing it saw was a gray fist slamming to it's chin.  
  
The slam of the punch was deafening. Vincent had seen that when Sandshrew hit, it's head was unprotected. It was perfect, they had been training on that punch for some time and if it hit, it was devastating. Sandshrew landed on the grass, out cold.  
  
The best had happened. Vincent and Slate had won.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
That's it! I know this isn't the best thing I have written but still... Let me know what you think and if you have any pointers.  
  
Oh yeah! Review what you think of the fight! Was it ok?  
  
/  
  
Yorun 


	7. Journey

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 7: Journey  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
  
  
Vincent was in his bed, thinking about the day that had gone. He had fought for the first time, well, he had fought a Pokémon battle for the first time. And it had gone well. Slate got pretty beat up but an hour at the Academy's Pokémon center had fixed him up. A bandage on the hurt shoulder and rest was all he needed. He had fought bravely and they had won. They were the best.  
  
But that was not the thing that was concerning Vincent. After the fights, Sara had come up and talked to him again. At first, it seemed as if she only wanted to congratulate him for his victory, but he soon realized that wasn't what she wanted. She had told him about that her and Wendy was to travel together after the graduation. The graduation that was tomorrow. And surprisingly enough, they wanted him with them.  
  
He had thought of it so many times. Wendy and Sara wanted him to travel with them. Why? Why did they want him? He hadn't done anything that made him a "nice guy". He hadn't asked Sara why. He had just said he would let her know by tomorrow. But what would he say? Sure, Sara was nice... and it was that something about her. Wendy was ok. Always happy and cheering people up.  
  
But did he really want someone to be... close to? If he travelled with those two for a long time, and then they split up. Then he would probably feel... Alone. Sad. Empty. Weak. Did he really want to feel all that? They would split up sooner or later, that was a fact. Why bring yourself those feelings? But there was something he had read somewhere... It is better to have lived and died instead of not have lived at all.  
  
Was his emotions dead? No, not yet. But did he really want to kill them? He would talk to Sara tomorrow and just do what felt right at the moment.  
  
(Maybe it will be like opening the door to the house I have prisoned myself in all my life. Joining up with those two may be my first steps outside of that door.) He could not know what was ahead of him. He just had to wait and see. Vincent Grey fell asleep.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
The day had come. They would graduate as Pokémon trainers. All of the students were gathered in the auditorium. No one said anything as the headmaster, Johnny Lindow made his way to the middle of the stage.  
  
"This is it. You have all made it through your time here. From this day on, you may call yourself Pokémon trainers. Just remember your time here and what you have learnt. Use that knowledge to your advantage. Do so and things will go easier. It will be easier but remember that it will still be hard. Always fight. Never give up. Your Pokémon are not tools of war. They are your companions. Cherish them. Don't take them for granted. Be strong even at the hardest of times. And be careful. Good luck."  
  
Everyone walked out into the sunshine, hugging, shaking hands and saying their goodbyes. Vincent went to the tree were he and Sara first talked, waiting for her. He didn't have to wait for long. She came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder.  
  
He turned around and was greeted with a smile. She sighed "Well... so?"  
  
"I haven't really decided yet. There is just one more thing I want to ask."  
  
"Ok, Go ahead."  
  
He looked deeply inte those beautiful blue eyes. "Why? Why do you want me with you?"  
  
She could see that he was dead serious. Best to be honest.  
  
"There are many reasons. You are a mystery to me Vincent. The way you act, I want to know who you are.Your ambition and your skill. I really think I can learn alot from you. And there is something else too... It is kind of hard to explain but you radiate some kind of energy. Being around you makes me never want to give up and I feel calm around you. Besides, you seem like a nice guy." It was all that she wanted to say at the moment  
  
He wasn't good at taking praize. If you can call it that. It always made him feel uneasy.  
  
He said nothing. He broke the stare and looked down at the ground, thinking. After a while, he spoke.  
  
"I am not giving you any guarantees. And I am not a really fun guy, you know. I can break free whenever I want ok?"  
  
"Ok" She just wanted him with them, and if he joined up, they could do so that he didn't want to leave them.  
  
"Then my answer is yes. I will go with you."  
  
"That's great Vincent!" She hugged him but quickly broke away when she realized what she was doing.  
  
"Uh... I'll go tell Wendy!" She ran away at the direction of her companion leaving a surprised Vincent Grey.'  
  
(Better get going, or else we will just get behind all the others.)  
  
He walked into his dorm room, picking up his large backpack and swung it onto his back. Never looking back at his room, he left, heading for Wendy's and Sara's room. Knowing where it was, he entered and took the bags on the bed, looking around the room if there was anything they had left. No, everything that was there belonged to the Academy.  
  
Vincent had placed himself so that they would see him when they headed for the dorms. After ten minutes, both of the girls rounded a corner and saw him.  
  
"Are you two done with all that goodbye stuff yet?"  
  
"Thank you for taking our bags." They both ignored the question, took their packs and strapped on their Pokéball belts.  
  
"Where are we going anyway?" He was impatient, didn't want to stay longer than absolutely necessary.  
  
Wendy looked at Sara "We are both trying to take the Gym challenge. If we win this first one, we try the next and so on. So we get up real early in the morning and start walking." Wendy motioned for the dorm, assuming they would spend the night there.  
  
"What? We are not starting right now?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing, stay here longer? No way.  
  
"As I said, ambitious." The words were meant for Wendy's ears but it got to Vincent's ears as well. Although, he pretended not to hear it.  
  
"It will be dark in a couple of hours but we can still travel a bit." Vincent pointed to a way leading into the woods  
  
"I guess we'll be getting a jump start from the others, the ones I've talked to are waiting for tomorrow. Besides, that way does indeed lead to the closest gym." Sara looked at Wendy, wanting her oppinion on the matter  
  
Wendy first looked at Sara, over to Vincent's gray eyes and back to Sara again, smiling.  
  
"Jump starts are always good. Let's do it!"  
  
The trio walked through the massive forest and after about two hours of making a way through tall grass, fallen trees and some wetlands, they emerged at the edge of the forest to see the orange sun, falling closer and closer to the horizon, making the clouds glow golden.  
  
"We camp here." Vincent dropped his heavy pack to the ground and grabbed Slate's Pokéball, opening it.  
  
The girls had already thrown their packs and was lying on the ground, panting.  
  
"Listen, me and Slate are going to find something to eat other than the supplies we brought with us. It shouldn't take too long." Vincent walked back into the forest from where they came.  
  
"Ah! My feet are killing me! It'll be nice to rest for a while." Wendy ripped off her shoes and socks, rubbing her sore feet.  
  
"Remember what we learned at the Academy? The first weeks we'll have sore feet but then they will be hardened and we can go even further!" Sara was walking around barefoot and was digging out the tent from her pack.  
  
"But we really shouldn't walk everyday you know. If we find a place that's nice, we can stay there and rest for a day. It's not like we're in a hurry."  
  
"Yeah, guess you're right..." The tent was set and Sara was looking at the ground for some stones to a fireplace.  
  
"Sara! Catch!"  
  
She spun around quickly and caught the stone that Vincent threw at her. Looking up again, she saw that Vincent and Slate had their arms filled with raspberries, hazelnuts, wild pears and apples, Plus some big stones for a fire.  
  
"Now let's eat! I'm starving!" After about half an hour, the fire was lit, Vincent and Slate had gotten som logs to sit on and everybody was digging in on a stew that they had gotten from the academy. Thay had enough food for about a week, then they had to either find or buy some more. The given Pokémon Chow should last for at least a month.  
  
"Hey you two." Both of the girls looked up at him "I just remembered that I haven't seen your Pokémon yet. And since you have seen Slate, I wanna see yours."  
  
"Ok, But don't think I'll battle you! I know that you are better already" Wendy reached for her Pokéball and threw it up in the air, releasing her... ...Mareep!"  
  
It ran over to Wendy and licked her hand, happy to be with her trainer. While Wendy got some Chow for Mareep, Vincent turned his head to look at Sara.  
  
"Oh Alright! And I am gonna fight you! Just not yet..." She released her Pokémon and as the light faded, there stood a small, bear-like Pokémon with one paw in it's mouth and a big crescent mark on it's forehead.  
  
"Vincent, meet Teddiursa. Teddiursa, meet Vincent Grey." Recognising the voice, Teddiursa ran straight at Sara, jumping into her arms and hugging her.  
  
"Cute..." Not wanting the girls to hear his sarcasm, he said it to himself and Slate.  
  
Slate smiled and stood up. He looked at Vincent. Knowing what Slate wanted, he got off the log and looked at the girls.  
  
"We are going to train. It'll take a while so don't wait up."  
  
As always, the duo began their training with a little running. Since they didn't know how far they ran, they measured the time instead. It usually was about a half an hour running at high speed the entire time. The goal was always to be exhausted after every training session. They ran further away from the girls as the time went and when the time had passed. They stopped and began stretching their legs and arms.  
  
Slate started doing pushups as Vincent looked around and saw a large tree with a branch perfect for chinups.  
  
"Hey, buddy. Check this out!" Slate stopped in the middle of a movement and looked at his trainer.  
  
"It'll not be everyday that we find a tree like this. Best to work it all out." He jumped up at the branch and started doing chinups.  
  
"And remember, (one) don't stop until (two) you can't possibly (three) do any more!"  
  
Soon, they both were exhausted and with sore arms. They had switched a couple of times and now Vincent was on the ground, doing the pushups.  
  
"That's it. Five sets oughta be enough or what do ya say?" Wiping the sweat of his forehead, the tough Machop nodded.  
  
"Now, for the abs." Both of them jumped up to the chinup branch and hung in their knees, doing situps.  
  
After about an hour of more pushups and chinups, situps and some punching, It was totally dark.  
  
They started their way back to the camp and after another half hour. They saw the fire and the tent.  
  
The lights were off and not a sound was heard.  
  
"Great job today Slate." He recalled his Pokémon and set the ball in his belt.  
  
He didn't want to wake the girls up, besides, he was sweaty and wouldn't smell too good in the morning. He pulled out his sleeping bag and decided to sleep outside.  
  
The morning soon came and as the first rays of light made their entry on the world, they awoke a young man. He stood up and cracked his neck, then stretched his arms.  
  
"Ouch... Yup, I worked last night, that's for sure..."  
  
But when he took his first steps, he was surprised and a little disappointed. He had sore arms and back, but his legs were just like normal.  
  
"Dammit... I didn't stretch THAT much..."  
  
Quickly grabbing his ball belt, he opened Slate's Pokéball.  
  
"Mornin buddy. Listen, do you have sore arms?"  
  
He flexed himself a little and then gave a nod.  
  
"How about your legs?"  
  
Slate walked around a little, then started running.  
  
"Guess not huh... That proves I have to come up with another workout for the legs. We'll still run, just for the stamina, but we won't get stronger if we can't feel it the next day."  
  
"I'll come up with something..." He recalled Slate and started to pack up his things.  
  
"Vincent?"  
  
Looking behind him, he saw Sara coming out of the tent rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.  
  
He couldn't help but thinking that she looked really good in those red sweatpants and that sports bra. And especially that she had her blonde hair let loose.  
  
(No! Not think like that! Makes you weak, remember.)  
  
"Good Morning"  
  
"We were beginning to worry when you didn't show up yesterday. I'm happy to see you again." She was tying her hair into the ponytail that she used to have.  
  
"I did say that you shouldn't wait up. By the way, you should wake Wendy. We have a lot of walking to do since the nearest gym is about a week from here by foot. If we take it slow that is."  
  
"We'll see how far we can go each day. Then we can estimate the time to the gym." While she was reentering the tent, Vincent buried the remains of the campfire and threw the rocks away.  
  
"Morning Vincent"  
  
"You ready to go soon?"  
  
"Just gimme a couple o minutes and I'm ready to go!" The everhappy Wendy was already dressed and packing up her things.  
  
Soon, the trio had packed up all their belongings and was back on the road.  
  
"In a couple of hours, we'll get to a small town called New Port. I have to do a couple of errands over there."  
  
"What kind of errands?" Sara asked  
  
"Well, first of all, I am gonna buy some new clothes. I am getting really tired of these shirts... And some new shorts. Well, you get the idea." He appreciated they didn't ask him why he only had one type of shirt and shorts. If they had asked, he couldn't explain it.  
  
They ran into a tree full of hazelnuts that they shook down and ate the rest of the way to New Port.  
  
When in the town, Wendy ran off to see some friend living there. "Come on Vincent! We haven't got all day!" Sara had already started walking as she held onto Vincent's arm  
  
"And where are you going? As you know I'm gonna buy clothes." He had a feeling he knew what was coming...  
  
"I know. And I'm gonna help!" Yep... he knew what was coming. But it wasn't that bad. At least he didn't have to bother picking out clothes himself. So he just let himself get dragged along.  
  
  
  
  
  
Another chapter for your reading pleasure!  
  
You know that button down there? Yup. That one. It won't bite. I promise! / Yorun 


	8. Infatuation?

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 8: Infatuation?  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
  
  
It didn't take long for Sara to spot a clothing store with the kind of clothes she was looking for.  
  
"Okay Vincent! What kind of clothes are we looking for here?"  
  
He thought a while, then answered. "Well, I want comfortable clothes that isn't in the way when I'm training."  
  
Kay, let's see what we can find... Sara began flipping through hangers and racks with shirts (now let's see if I can find a little... tighter shirt. Ah! Here we are!)  
  
"Vincent! Take a look at this." Sara held up a white, sleeveless T-shirt. Small.  
  
"Try it on. At least it doesnt't get in the way of your training coz it has no sleeves. And you can get a tan on your arms as well!"  
  
"Fine... I'll try it. But if I want a tan, I'll walk around with no shirt." He turned around and headed for the locker room after finding two more shirts and two pairs of shorts.  
  
(I would love to see that...) Sara followed Vincent to see him with the clothes on. She knew the shirt had to be tight. There wasn't a chance in the world he would normally have a size Small.  
  
First set of clothes were a pair of beige shorts with pockets on the thies, good for the things you needed to get hold of fast while travelling. And a black T-shirt. At least neutral wasn't bad...  
  
"The clothes are fine. Just not together."  
  
"Ok. I'll buy them then." Vincent didn't like this. But he desperately needed new clothes. Even a guy with as little experience as him knew that he couldn't just walk around in the same types of clothes all the time. Not around girls anyway...  
  
(As if I care how I look around girls! I think not!) But he knew he did. He just didn't want to admit it.  
  
Next up was a pair of forest green shorts, a little thinner and definately made for warm weather. With that came a white, v necked t-shirt.  
  
Soon, It was time for the next creation, the one Sara liked the most. His usual black shorts along with the tight shirt. After a little time in the dressing room, a little more time than the other changes took actually, Sara was bored.  
  
"Vincent are you ok in there?"  
  
"Yeah i'm ok... It's just that..."  
  
"What? Tell me." A smiled played on her lips. She knew what the problem was.  
  
"Well... this shirt is a little... small." He had dropped his voice lower and lower as he spoke, but Sara could still make out what he said.  
  
"Now come on, it can't be that bad. Let's see it!" Vincent hesitated...  
  
"Oh allright!" But I'm NOT getting this shirt.  
  
He pulled away the curtain thingie that was covering the dressing room and made himself visible to Sara.  
  
She just couldn't help it. It was extremely hard to keep a straight face and she covered her mouth to smother a giggle. He just looked so adorable! In that tight shirt, he looked really uncomfortable and couldn't even stand up straight like he used to.  
  
"For Christs sake! What size is this?"  
  
Sara was still covering her mouth when she answered, but right after telling him it was a Small shirt, she bursted out laughing.  
  
"What? What is it!?" Sara pointed to his chest and when Vincent looked down, he saw that you could notice his nipples under the tight clothing.  
  
"Ah come on!" he dashed back into the dressing room and ripped the embarassing shirt over his head and yelled out to Sara.  
  
"When you're done laughing at me, you can get a bigger shirt! I am not a size small!"  
  
When he changed back into his own clothes, he didn't know if he was supposed to feel humiliated becase she laughed at him, or insulted she actually thought he was a size Small. Or, just feel proud because she wanted to see him in a shirt like that. He quickly discarded the thoughts, not wanting to think about it anymore, just get out of the store.  
  
When he came out of the room, Sara stood there with the larger shirt in hand, still smiling. He took the shirt quickly and walked over to the counter to pay.  
  
The duo returned to the spot were they were supposed to meet up with Wendy. Vincent didn't speak at all since the clothing store.  
  
"Just for another ten minutes, we wait."  
  
Silence  
  
"She was supposed to be here soon, Vincent."  
  
Silence  
  
"Ah Vincent, don't be like that! You looked really cute in the shirt you know."  
  
(Cute? She thought I looked cute? No! Nevermind! She's lying! That's all!)  
  
Sara gave up. They waited for Wendy in silence.  
  
"Hey guys!"  
  
When Wendy came closer, she saw that Vincent was standing with his arms crossed and looked down into the ground. Noting special about that. But Sara sat on a bench away from him with her head resting on her palms. She didn't look bored, more like troubled.  
  
"What's up? You seem a little moody."  
  
Sara looked up at Wendy, stood up and looked over to Vincent then turned her eyes to Wendy.  
  
"Nothing. It's nothing." She put on a smile that even she knew looked fake.  
  
They started walking but soon turned around.  
  
"Are you coming or what?"  
  
He remained silent, just took his backpack and followed.  
  
The trio ended up camping beside a nearby lake, a couple of miles away from New Port, setting up camp as the sun coloured the world in orange and purple. The grass was damp and licked the legs on Vincent as he wandered around looking for stones to the fireplace. It didn't take long to get was back to the girls, make a circle with the stones and put some tinder in the middle.  
  
He walked away again, heading for the lake this time. The scenery was indeed beautiful, the green trees were bursting with life as young birds were calling for their mother with mouths open, squirrels were collecting food along with their mates. Nature was at it's best right now.  
  
Vincent reached the shore and decided to have a little swim as he looked out onto the still water. He dropped his ball belt, pulled off his T-shirt and removed the shorts. Then walked out into the water.  
  
It was a bit cold but still acceptable to take a swim and freshen up a little. When the dark water reached up to his waist, Vincent dove in, letting the water caress him and wash away his worries. He rolled over on his back and looked up at the surface. The sunlight refracted in the water, making that beatiful dance on the bottom of the lake's yellow sand as well as on Vincent's body. He closed his eyes and could almost feel the light on him. The past months, he had began to realize what made him feel good. This was one of these things.  
  
Water was a wondeful thing. You could float as if you weighed nothing. You could dive in and find yourself in another world. A world where you ruled. You could make anything you wanted. You just had to think in a special way. Vincent stopped moving his hands and feet. Just levitated in the middle of the water, didn't float up, didn't sink, just lay there on an invisible bed.  
  
*I know who you are*  
  
Vincent flung his eyes open in half a second. What was that? He had heard something...  
  
A voice. An echoing voice that didn't belong to him, or anyone he knew.  
  
*Vincent Grey*  
  
He quickly eyed his surroundings but there was nothing but sand and water. Nothing that could have said that.  
  
*You are not from here...*  
  
Sara had heard the splash when Vincent dove in the water and went down to the beach. Mostly to try and talk to him. Maybe apologize. She saw his clothes in the sand and the rings on the water spreading wider. He was in there. She couldn't see him but he surely was there.  
  
The lake was beautiful. The orange sun ventured downwards behind a forest and made the entire scenery look as if it was from a movie. But this was real. She sat down on a rock and just absorbed what she saw. As her eyes were scanning the lake, she stopped on one point and stood up. There was something there.  
  
*You do not belong in this world!*  
  
Vincent took his feet down to the sandy bottom, then thrust his upper body towards the surface as if he was doing a situp.  
  
Sara noticed the water rising a little bit just before Vincent broke out of the water's grasp. Gasping for air, he stood upright, desperately turning his head in all directions, as if to find something.  
  
But that something wasn't there.  
  
"You shouldn't swim alone you know." Vincent immeadiately turned his head towards Sara. He had completely missed her standing there.  
  
(What was that!?)  
  
(That voice... It wasn't male nor female... Who or should I say what could that have been?!)  
  
"Vincent? Are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost!"  
  
"I... I'm ok." But the truth was different. The truth was that it had scared him like nothing else. He had panicked.  
  
"Listen, I'm sorry about that thing in the store. It wasn't my intention to upset you." She meant that  
  
He felt like smile, just for her. But he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't show it. Instead, he walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hey, It's ok. It's nothing to be upset about."  
  
"Are you sure? Not mad at me anymore?"  
  
He just shook his head and she smiled at him, looking up into his gray eyes (Vincent Grey. You sure are a mystery man...) She could feel it again. That same feeling the first time she saw him. That energy. His eyes enchanted her. She just couldn't stop staring into the oblivion that they provided. Her hand moved towards his cheek, wanting to touch him. Feel his warmth.  
  
But when her hand slowly moved closer, his face changed exprssion very quickly. The reassuring, sparkling eyes took on the look of... worry and insecure. He moved his head a little in the opposite direction from her hand, breaking the spell Sara was under. She was transported back to reality.  
  
"Hey you two!" Wendy stood back at the camp with her Mareep.  
  
"The food is ready!" If she could've seen them, she would surely had come up with a smart comment. Vincent, wet and in his underwear. A hand on Sara's shoulder and Sara's hand on her way to his face.  
  
Vincent was the one to break the awkward silence between them. "Better get back"  
  
Sara swiftly moved away her hand and brushed herself off from dust that wasn't there.  
  
She was looking down into the ground. "Yeah. You're right. I go tell her that you'll be there soon." She ran off to Wendy, trying to look casual.  
  
The food was yet again the supplies from the Academy. But this time, it was canned Ravioli. Not bad.  
  
The sun was completely down when the food was consumed, and at least Wendy began feeling tired. Sara agreed to go to bed eventhough Vincent didn't think she looked tired. She looked troubled. And he knew why.  
  
It had always been like that. At least for as long as he could remember. He found it extremely easy to put himself into someone else's shoes and feel what they felt. And at the same time, know why they felt that. He didn't really know if he wanted to be able to do that. It wasn't something he had control over. It just happened.  
  
And right now. Sara was wondering why he had pulled away his head. She would know why if she could do what he could. Just look at a person and sense their state of mind. He hoped she could. Then all would be so easy. No difficult conversations later on why. She would just know.  
  
But it didn't seem like she could. Then she would know that intimacy and emotions in general was something that he didn't desire. His lack of experience on the subject made him not craving for someone to hold. No one to love.  
  
(I don't need anyone. I manage fine alone!)  
  
Wendy yawned as she stretched her arms over her head. "I'll go to bed now. After all, we're not stopping anywhere tomorrow are we?"  
  
"That's right, we're not." Vincent was chewing on a plant he had found next to him  
  
"Vincent" Sara was standing by her pack, sleeping bag clutched to her body, hugging it.  
  
"You are sleeping in the tent right? It gets kinda cold during the night" She was cold right now, the goosebumps on her bare arms gave it away.  
  
(She is right... it wasn't easy to sleep last night) He had woken up several times just to find that he was cold and had to creep deeper and deeper into his sleeping bag.  
  
"Is it okay with you and Wendy?" He wanted to make sure. If they didn't really want him to sleep in there with them, the cold grass would be his bed.  
  
"Yeah, it is. We both trust you not to do anything funny!" She held up a finger as if she was teaching him something  
  
"As if I would... I'll just finish things up here before going to sleep."  
  
"Ok, I'll unroll your sleeping bag too then."  
  
Before he could say anything in return, she was inside the tent, chatting away with Wendy about what kind of new clothes Wendy had bought.  
  
(Girltalk...) Not being too interested about their conversation of choice, Vincent picked up the dishes and walked down to the lake again.  
  
They hadn't used a pot to heat their food in, they just placed the water- filled cans by the fire and when the water boiled, the food was ready. Therefore, he only had forks and spoons to dish. An amount to his liking.  
  
While he was scrubbing, he couldn't help but think about what the strange voice had said. It knew who he was and that he was from a world where Pokémon didn't exist.  
  
(Maybe that voice was the one who brought me here. But why? Maybe it was a mistake. After all, it did say that I didn't belong here.)  
  
He switched the now clean fork to a spoon.  
  
(And maybe I can go back! But then again... do I really want to? I mean, it's not like there is anything to miss in my own world.)  
  
Washed off the spoon and took up another one.  
  
(Maybe it was nothing. I was just in the water too long that's all. Just imagination. But what if it happens again... It won't! Just imagination! Just imagination...  
  
He wouldn't let it bother him for now and took up all the spoons and forks, heading back to the tent and the girls, thinking how to train his legs properly instead.  
  
(When I train my arms, I use weights. When I train my back, I use weights. When I train my legs, I run. I could try training my legs with weights too... But where?! I am in the middle of nowhere and there is no chance that I could carry around the equipment needed for the legs...)  
  
Then, like a bolt of lighting from a cloud free sky, he knew what to do! The next town they ran across, he would put his plan to work.  
  
When he got back to the camping site, the girls had stopped their chatting and everything was quiet. With exception for the animals shuffling around in bushes and the crickets chirping almost in sync.  
  
Vincent put away the now clean dishes only to carefully sneak over to the silvery dome tent and open the outer zipper with as little sound as possible. He pushed the makebelieve door to the side as he popped his head in. Both Wendy and Sara were knocked out cold, snoozing peacefully in their sleeping bags. Wendy was laying to the left, facing the tent wall, while Sara was in the middle, laying on her back.  
  
That left a third of the tent floor to Vincent. Sara had unrolled his sleeping bag and it was tempting to hop in and travel to dreamland.  
  
So that was just what he did. After pulling off his shoes, socks, shirt and shorts, He carefully made his way into his sleeping bag since he didn't want to wake any of the girls. As soon as he shut his eyes and relaxed, it felt like his entire body just floated out into a puddle of dough. He didn't want to move. He was just so tired.  
  
But he still streched out his arms over his head as he yawned quietly. Only that he accidently bumped his elbow into Sara on the way down! He froze every movement to see if she had woken up from the collision.  
  
She had! She rolled over to face Vincent and flung her left arm onto his chest. He looked into her eyes to find a reaction to why her arm was resting peacefully on top of him. And when he saw that her eyes was closed, he knew that she was asleep.  
  
Vincent sighed out in relief. She hadn't woken up. (Now what? I can't sleep with her arm on me!) He was feeling uncomfortable with her touching him like this. No one used to touch him at all and he was fine with that.  
  
So, he tried to pick up her arm and put it down at her side. But when he did that, she just gripped hold of him tighter, like a one arm hug.  
  
He dropped his hands on her in defeat.  
  
(Shit... There is no way I can make her let go without waking her up!) He closed his eyes, trying to come up with another way.  
  
As he lay there with his eyes closed, he could feel Sara's hand wrap around his own. Looking down at her face, she was indeed still asleep.  
  
(She is so soft... Besides, I don't wanna wake her up now do I?) Even Vincent himself didn't notice, but he fell asleep smiling, holding the hand of Sara Futura.  
  
  
  
  
  
Well... So what do ya think? Was it good infatuation or was it just lame, predictable crap? Whatever, just let me know by pressing the button down yonder! Yup, that one. / Yorun 


	9. Twin Falls

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game. If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 9: Twin Falls  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
Vincent awoke to the sound of heavy rain smattering the tent, desperately trying to reach the tents inhabitants. He wasn't cold since the sleeping bag did it's work and Sara had crept even closer to him, warming his bare chest with her arm and her body heat radiated from her own bag, onto his. Making him even warmer.  
  
He didn't have anything against it. In fact, he liked it. He had never been like this before. He had never been so close to anyone so that he could feel their warmth.  
  
There he was, taking use of another person when he had been standing on his own two legs his entire life.  
  
Thinking about it, he wasn't so sure wether he liked it or not.  
  
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Three more days and nights passed quickly.  
  
Every day, Vincent, Sara and Wendy came closer and closer to their destination. The town of Twin Falls. The first town with a gym.  
  
Every night, they slept the same way. Wendy on the left, Sara in the middle and Vincent on the right. For some reason, Sara always crept closer to Vincent. One night, he had even changed places with Wendy to see what way she crept. To his surprise, she always made her way to him.  
  
He assumed that she sub-consiously made her way to the warmest place. In this case, him.  
  
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They were walking on a road in the middle of nowhere. Yellow fields with grain ready to be harvested surrounded the road in every direction, only making room for farms that lay scattered around the plains like patches on an old blanket.  
  
The heat radiated off the pavement, seeing it in the air above the road plus the fact that they were sweating floods made them painfully aware that they needed water. Crickets sang furiously, making the walking almost hypnotic. After walking for nearly six hours and with the water already used up, they needed a place to rest and fill up their reserves.  
  
First up the extremely long hill was Vincent, wearing the thin, green shorts that he and Sara had picked out. He had taken off his shirt after the first hour of walking since the heat was unbearable.  
  
Second, was Sara. She wore a pair of shimmering blue, tight bicycle shorts that stopped about halfway up her thigh and a white top. Like usual, she had her hair in a ponytail.  
  
Shortly after, Wendy appeared with a sweatshirt tied around her waist and the jeans shorts made this morning since shorts was the best for this kind of weather.  
  
Wendy stopped at the peak of the hill, digging for her waterbottle. Only to find it empty.  
  
"Can I borrow some water from anyone?" She looked from Sara to Vincent and back to Sara again.  
  
"If I had some, you could have it. But I'm all out too." They both looked at Vincent, who just flipped his open bottle upside down. Nothing but a few minimal drops leaked onto the grund and disappeared right in front of their eyes.  
  
"So... the situation is this: we are walking in the middle of nowhere in this blasted heat with no water." Wendy looked dumbfounded  
  
"Great! We can't go on much further with no water! We'll get dehydrated. And that ain't fun. I've been there! If we don't drink alot every day, then we have to stay at one place and just recover for a full day. A whole day just thrown into the river..." Wendy rambled on  
  
"There's no need to do that. Look down there." Vincent pointed down to a scar in the landscape.  
  
"A valley. There should be some water down there." Sara looked at Wendy  
  
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Wendy steered her steps at the gorge, excited to finally get to still her thirst.  
  
The distance proved to be further than anyone of them could imagine, so when they did reach their destination, it was dusk.  
  
But Vincent had been right, there was water there. A small stream lined the bottom of the gorge, filling up a small pond no more than twenty meters across. The pond had green leaf-trees of a kind neither of them knew, nor cared about, lining the water edges. The trees hung over the water like they were reaching for the cool, clear liquid. The trio stopped for the day and dropped their packs nearby the lake. Preparing to set up the tent.  
  
"Who are you to have found the secret gym of the Twin Falls?" A woman clad in animal furs stood on top of a cliff in the water. It looked like she had been living in the wild a long time. The only thing that looked normal was the capture balls around her wrists.  
  
"This is a secret gym?" Vincent whispered to Sara.  
  
"Yup. It was hidden to prove more of a challenge for trainers and their Pokémon. We were supposed to go into the town's Pokémon center to get clues but I guess we won't need to do that now..."  
  
"We are travellers coming freshly from the Pokémon academy in the south. We seek to challenge the leader of this gym." Sara answered the woman  
  
"All three of you?"  
  
Both Sara and Wendy looked at Vincent, who just nodded in approval.  
  
"I will try my best." He had thought of it for a long time and figured he needed the experience.  
  
"Then you will all follow me to the leader's domain and the location for the fights."  
  
They did as they were told and followed the strange woman, who had leaped off the cliff and was now standing in front of them.  
  
A little bit into the forest, the landscape was beautiful. The stream had hundreds of black mossy rocks in it, that along with fallen trees and branches who still had leaves growing out of them, created bridges across the cold water. The steep slopes on both sides of the water were covered with brown, dead leaves that had fallen from the massive beech-trees. The trees stood bent and twisted, creating a roof of green leaves over the gorge. Both the slopes and trees measured more than thirty meters in the air, making Vincent suddenly feel very, very small.  
  
As they passed through the beautiful nature, Wendy couldn't help but notice that it looked like the stream had been eating it's way down in the ground over the course of thousand of years, making this scar in the earth.  
  
As they rounded a corner, they could hear the sound of furious water at it's peak and they found themselves walking towards a pair if waterfalls. Vincent eyed the falls. The short one, about four meters high, was below a large plateau, constantly filled up with water from the larger fall, streching eight, maybe ten meters in the sky.  
  
On the upper fall, in the middle of the stream, there was a throne carved out of stone and decorated with both sea shells and fern. The arm rests had two pokéballs fitted in them.  
  
(Gym time...) Vincent stood still, with his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
"Who art thou to have defeated the trainers and quests on thy way to the secret Gym of Twin falls?" a heavy female voice, seemingly coming from everywhere asked them.  
  
The woman that lead them to the falls dropped on one knee and stared at the ground "These are trainers coming from the Pokémon academy in the south. They are all looking for a gym match with you, oh leader."  
  
"Then they shall have it." Out from the back of the throne, a woman with black hair and green clothing that none of the trio had ever seen before stood up. She had the appearance of a queen, yet simple like all the clothes came from the forest. She took both of the balls out of the throne sockets and leaped down the fall onto the plateau below.  
  
"Who shalt be the first to perish under the power of my Pokémon?" She had her arms to her hips.  
  
(She doesn't impress me with old english and speakers hidden in the bushes!) Vincent took a step forward  
  
"I am" Wendy spoke up just as Vincent opened his mouth.  
  
(Fine... get beat up. See if I care!)  
  
"Very well then." The leader motioned for the plateau with her arm "Thou shalt come up here. This is where thou art defeated."  
  
Wendy didn't say anything, just started walking up towards the plateau and her first Gym match.  
  
"You have to follow me now. You are not allowed to watch the match." The weird-looking woman from before led them away.  
  
"Good luck Wendy!" Sara yelled and waved towards her friend.  
  
It didn't take long for Wendy to come back from her fight with the leader, soaked in water. Immeadiatley, Sara and Vincent stood up. Vincent looked at her, trying to read her of any emotions or something out of the ordinary in her body language, like pride. But there was nothing that he could really put his finger on.  
  
"How'd it go?!"  
  
"She told me that I couldn't tell before both of you had fought her. And, she also told me to send you next." She looked over at Sara, who immeadiately had a serious expression on her face.  
  
"I'll do my best." Sara walked away to her oncoming fight.  
  
While Sara was duking it out on the plateau, Vincent stared intensively at Wendy. He had never found anyone that was this hard to read! She could totally change the way she acted and looked. She didn't even give the hint of a smile to show that she had won, or act mad and irritated because of a loss. No walking proudly because of a win. He was completely dumbfounded.  
  
It didn't take long for Sara to return either. She too, completely soaked.  
  
But Sara wasn't like Wendy. Sara was very easy to read. She had an extremaly small smile across her lips, just noticable but it was there. And she kept her head high. Sara had won. "Vincent, your turn." Sara wringed the water out of her hair as she spoke  
  
He just walked by her, didn't even look at her "Congratulations to your first badge Sara."  
  
She looked at Wendy with eyes the size of plates and her mouth open a little  
  
"How did he know that?!"  
  
Vincent walked up the path to the plateau with Slate's minimized Pokéball firmly in a fisted hand.  
  
(I will not lose. No way! If Sara can do it, so can I.)  
  
When he reached the plateau between the falls, he saw that it wasn't really a plateau, it was a battlefield covered with water, even the white markings where there to state the borders of the Pokémon. And on the other sides, the leader stood.  
  
"I welcome thee, Vincent Grey to my domain."  
  
He raised his left eyebrow "Apparently, you know my name woman. I assume your assistant gave you that information. But since you know who I am, I want to know the name of the one I am going to beat."  
  
She let out a sinister laugh "Thou art wrong in so many ways, trainer. My assistant does not need to provide me with any information! She is merely a guide to the trainers who have managed to find their way here. I get my knowledge from the water that passes in my stream. Everything that my water has heard, goes directly to me."  
  
(What a fruitcake...)  
  
"Very well then, what have the water told you more besides my name, woman?"  
  
"Thou have bathed in my source of knowledge, and thus, allowing me to hear thy thoughts for the moment. And forcing thou to listen to mine."  
  
"What did my thoughts tell you then?" He found it quite amusing to play with this sorry excuse for a leader  
  
She looked him in the eyes and spoke with a silent, knife-sharp voice that made his skin crawl  
  
"You are yearning to find out your purpose in this world since you were so violently thrown out of your own. I specifically told you that there is no place for you here."  
  
He couldn't believe what he was hearing! This freaked out woman was the thing that he heard in the water? No! Not true. She was a pitiful liar.  
  
She sighed "If only that was all... I know how you got here, trainer. And I also know a way for you to return."  
  
He felt his fuse burning faster and faster, dangerously close to ignite the bomb that was himelf.  
  
"Then tell me how I get back."  
  
She stared at him and giggled. "You get your way trainer. I will tell you how to get back where you belong."  
  
Vincent stood up straight, paying close attention  
  
"If..." She held her finger in the air "You beat me in a two on two battle."  
  
"Slate and I will easily beat whatever Pokémon you have. You might as well tell me right now!" He enlarged Slate's Pokéball and threw it into the arena.  
  
The Machop stood in the water, ready to fight whatever she tossed at them.  
  
Without a word, she tossed a ball already in her hand.  
  
As the bright neon light faded, Slate's opponent became visible.  
  
"May I introduce... My Octillery. It will be the last thing your weak Machop sees before he faints."  
  
"Bring it on!"  
  
"Octillery!" Blast that pitiful Machop with a water gun!"  
  
"Slate, don't move!"  
  
The gray Pokémon turned his head and looked at his trainer who stood calmly, arms folded on his chest as usual. But the short Pokémon got a feeling of fear as he beheld his trainer and companion. Vincent's eyes were fixed on the person in front of him and his eyes were a furious black.  
  
Slate never had time to turn his head back around and got hit by the water stream with full force. He was slammed into the solid rock wall behind him and as the water slowed down, he sunk down on his knees.  
  
(...I need to be careful. That Water gun wasn't as weak as I had expected.) Vincent was surprised  
  
"Get up. I know you can take more than that." He needed to be strong. He needed to appear as he already had the win in his hand. Then, he would find out the way to get back into the world he belonged. And then, he would decide if he would get back or not.  
  
Vincent leaned in on his soaked Pokémon and whispered "Let's get physical!"  
  
"Karate Chop!"  
  
"Octillery, another water gun if I may?" The squid-like Pokémon reered back it's head and spewed another devastating spray of water at the forth-coming Machop.  
  
"Slate. Get out of the way and do a Low kick!"  
  
Slate threw himself to the left just as the water came straight at him. Using the momentum, he swinged his leg at the Octillery's head, forcing it to stop with the water assault.  
  
"Now, Karate Chop."  
  
Just as the Octillery could see straight, the first thing it saw was the hand of Slate come crashing down on it's hard head.  
  
"Octillery! Constrict it!" the trainers voice was not even phased. Her Pokémon had taken two hard blows to the head and she was still talking like she was winning.  
  
(She's doing the same as me... Playing it cool and trying to psych me out. You've met your match! No one can ever affect me with petty mind games!)  
  
Octillery had already jumped on to the back of Slate and was squeezing the air out from his lungs with it's strong tentacles.  
  
"Slate! Take it easy. Focus your energy."  
  
Slate concentrated and tensed all the muscles he had worked so hard to build up. He bent his arms upward at the same time as he heaved in air into his lungs.  
  
"Harder!" Octillery did as it was told and squeezed as hard as it could, trying to squeeze the life out of the strong Pokémon.  
  
Vincent didn't need to tell Slate what to do. Even if he did, it wouldn't help. It was a struggle between a Machop and an Octillery. The question was: Who would get tired first? Several minutes passed as the Pokémon were pushing against each other, giving it all they had  
  
Slate knew that if he exhaled the air he had, he would loose. But it was becoming harder and harder every second not to.  
  
"Come on! I know you will win! It's a weak Octillery, Slate! You are the strongest Machop there is. You can't loose!"  
  
The encouraging words from the person that meant the most to him sent Slate over the edge. He used whatever power he had and flung his arms out, causing the Octilllery to let go of him and fall to the ground behind him.  
  
"How interesting. I've never seen anyone break out of a Constrict before. Too bad you won't win... Ice beam."  
  
Slate was panting heavily and his arms hurt from the move he had just pulled. Even if Vincent had ordered him to get out of the way, he couldn't. But the Ice Beam wasn't heading for him. It struck the water in front of him and froze it solid. All of the previously moving water on the plateu was frozen and created a barely noticable mist that soon vanished. "Now Octillery. Octazooka!"  
  
(Not good!)  
  
"Dodge it!"  
  
Slate tried to jump to the left but he couldn't. His feet were stuck in the newly formed ice.  
  
The water hit him with incredible force straight to the face. He was pushed backwards and the back of his head slammed into the hard ice.  
  
It would have been so easy to just stay down. But neither Slate nor Vincent believed in the easy way.  
  
"Get up and punch your way out!"  
  
Slate stood up again, raised his arms and slammed it into the hard water on either side of him with full force. The ice cracked but he was still stuck.  
  
"Again!" He repeated the moves but this time, even harder.  
  
The ice flew in every direction and the very tired and very pissed Machop raced over the slippery ice heading for Octillery. Slate grabbed the two front tentacles, one in each hand and lifted it in the air, slamming it to the ice. But he did not stop there. Slate, furious about the low trick that had been pulled on him threw the dazed Pokémon into the very same stone wall he had crashed into in the beginning of the match.  
  
Octillery slumped down on the ground. It was knocked out.  
  
"Great job Slate." Vincent held out his companions Pokéball and was ready to press the recall button.  
  
"Trainer, weren't you listening? I said a two on two battle..." She had already released her second choice. In front of her stood a large, spiky and blue/gray Pokémon.  
  
"Give it your best shot. However, I would bet my money on Cloyster."  
  
(Is she mocking us?!)  
  
"Karate Chop it!" There was only one problem. Slate was exhausted. The hurt he previously felt was nothing to what he was experiencing right now. His knuckles bled from the ice, his chest hurt from the squeezing and he was dizzy from the Octazooka to the head. In short, Slate was in pain.  
  
The speed he had before was gone. He nearly jogged over to the large Pokémon, panting like he had lungs the size of peas. His eyes didn't have the spark in them anymore. They were half closed and as he landed a punch on the Cloyster with the force of a newborn child, he passed out.  
  
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The girls had already gone asleep for the night while Vincent took a walk and cleared his mind. How was he supposed to beat that trainer? Slate didn't even have a chance against her second Pokémon! But if he had more Pokémon too, then he could withdraw Slate after the Octillery had fallen and throw out a second, fresh Pokémon! He needed battle experience that was for sure. He had to train Slate more, find more Pokémon and train them to be the strongest they could ever be!  
  
As he approached the tent with small, light steps trying to make as little sound as humanly possible, he quickly turned to his right as he heard something. And stared at the familiar contures of Wendy.  
  
"Wendy, when did you wake up?" He walked over to her  
  
"I never fell asleep." She kept her eyes focused out into the darkness all the time, listening and imagining the water somewhere in front of her.  
  
She looked at him and patted a mossy stone next to her. "Sit down."  
  
He did, just not next to her. He sat down a little further away.  
  
(What's going on?)  
  
Wendy changed her eyes from the dark water up into the sky while grabbing hold of her knee and leaned backwards, rocking back and fourth.  
  
"They're beautiful aren't they?"  
  
"What?"  
  
She pointed up into the sky "The stars."  
  
They were indeed beautiful, he knew that. He had spent several hours just staring at them at home in his backyard. And he would do it again! He just had to beat that leader...  
  
He didn't look up. "Maybe."  
  
"Ha! I'm not stupid you know! But from the look of it, it seems that Sara is."  
  
He looked up at her face, trying to read her emotions. If he could do that, he would know her intentions. But to no avail. (Blast this darkness!)  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I've been watching you Vincent. And I've been watching Sara too. You pretend to be this tough, non-caring guy. But you are not. Underneath that macho shell of yours, you are much more vulnerabe then you want to believe. You have shielded your heart from the outside world. And my theory is that until now, no one has been able to penetrate that shell."  
  
"Until now?"  
  
"Until the day you met Sara."  
  
Silence  
  
"She has gotten to you. The second night, when you slept in the tent, she put her arm around you right?"  
  
(How does she know?!)  
  
"...yeah... You were awake?"  
  
"I was awake, yes. And I saw that you tried to pull her away, but you didn't. And every night since then, she has been very close to you in her sleep. Correct?"  
  
"Yes but that's just because she is drawn to my body temperature. Nothing else. And I can't push her away because then she would wake up." He didn't like this. Apparantly, he had been read just as easily as he read people. It was an uncomfortable thought... He felt like he didn't have any privacy.  
  
"Okay, If you say so. But just consider this:" She stood up and walked over to him, whispering in his ear.  
  
"Are you sure she was asleep?"  
  
All the hairs on his neck rose. He had shivers along his spine. His eyes were wide open.  
  
(She wasn't asleep? Then that means... she held me and slept so close to me because she wanted to. No, she is the kind of gilr that is on love with love. She just have to have someone. But she wil not have me! I stand alone!) He placed his face in his open palms as he relized that he had become quite fond of having her next to him. To feel her warm skin against his. He hated the thought that he actually had become attached to someone.  
  
But how could Wendy know if she was awake or not? Had Sara told him? Did she see it? Did she just guess...?  
  
It didn't matter. He knew what he was going to do in the morning.  
  
  
  
I knew this chapter took a really long time to finish and I am sorry about that. I hope you liked it. I didn't... :p  
  
Tell me what you think of my work using "that" button.  
  
Yes... that one :) / Yorun 


	10. The Breaking

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life Chapter 10: The Breaking  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
  
  
The morning sun was both welcome and dreaded.  
  
After having walked around the forest the entire night occupied with his own mind, he needed the warmth.  
  
But, as the morning came, he knew he had to tell the girls. The thing that had kept him from going to sleep was to figure out a way in which he would tell them. He had tried to push those thoughts away with training strategies and Pokémon types he would search for. Without success.  
  
(Get it over with.)  
  
"Sara. Wendy. Get up." He stood outside of the tent, ready to say the words he so carefully had chosen during the night.  
  
Both of the girls awoke the instant he spoke. All three of them did that now. After sleeping in the wild the time they had, they were always on edge.  
  
"Vincent?" Sara said groggily  
  
"Get out here. I need to talk to you both."  
  
It didn't take long before the girls were out of the tent. Wendy in her jammies and Sara in hers. Which really just were sweatpants and a large T- shirt.  
  
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Sara was the clueless one. Wendy had a hunch of what was coming.  
  
"Yeah. Something is wrong. Remember what I said when I agreed to join you?" He prayed to god they did.  
  
"You said you weren't really a fun guy and that you could..." Sara realized were this was headed and Wendy got confirmation.  
  
Vincent nodded "I'm leaving you."  
  
Sara couldn't believe what she was hearing "Why? Why do you want to leave us?" The tone of her voice and her pleading eyes forced Vincent to look away. This was what he hated about farewells. Always unwanted feelings. This was why he didn't want to join them in the first place.  
  
"It's not you. Neither of you. I have personal matters I must tend to. And I can't have any of you with me." It was indeed true  
  
"But we can help!"  
  
He shook his head at Sara. God he hated moments like these. "You will only be in the way."  
  
"No, I promise! You won't even know I'm there."  
  
"Then why come with me at all? Sara, listen to me. I don't want you with me. Accept it." He reached for his pack and threw it over his shoulder. As he stood upright again, he found Sara wrapping her arms around him.  
  
He looked over at Wendy who stood with her back facing him. Vincent fought the urge to return the deep hug but instead he folded his hands into fists and kept his arms straight at his sides.  
  
"Good bye." He broke free from Sara and turned his back on her, walking away from them both, and heading for a journey on his own. A journey that was not about collecting badges. But still, a journey where the power of Pokémon was needed. And Vincent where to find that power. He did not know how. Only that he had to.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
Pidgeys and Spearows watched as a dark figure ran below. It furiously ran between trees, jumped over fallen logs and through pusses of water as it constantly looked over its shoulder into the darkness of the night. The fear inside it made it run faster then it ever had before. At least it felt like it. It reached a stone wall and quickly turned around and listened. Nothing could be heard. And that was what worried the Scyther.  
  
Because when it had started running, it hadn't heard anything. Everything went dead silent. That was when the bug had taken off with all the speed that a Scyther was capable off.  
  
It stood, listened and never saw the blow coming. Something came out of the bushes beside it and knocked it on the side of its green head with just enough power to make the bug stumble. But just as fast as it went down, it got up again and took sight of a dark conture moving in front of him. It charged forward and followed the running figure. The Scyther jumped and used it's wings to get a little extra thrust to sink it's razor sharp claws into the back of the running figure. Scyther slashed down and felt the impact. The impact of wood. The Scyther's meant to be victim had jumped up and kicked away from the tree and gotten out of the way from the scythes.  
  
The bug type looked up and saw the dark figure sailing above him, casually dropping something onto its head.  
  
The Ball did its work and sucked Scyther in. It jiggled a couple of times and then stopped.  
  
The dark figure stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. It was a man. A man with a pair of loose khaki pants and a ball belt around his waist, holding the pants up. He had neither shoes, socks nor a shirt on. Only large bands around his ankles and wrists. His sun bleeched hair looked like gold in the moonlight. The man bent down and picked up the ball, looking to his right at the Pokémon who had dealt the blow on Scyther's head.  
  
"Marowak. We're done."  
  
A metre tall Marowak came out of the bushes, holding it's large bone. And, strangely enough, the Pokémon had similar bands to those of the human.  
  
"Let's go and get some sleep. You've definately earned it." The duo walked back in the direction they came, heading for the camp.  
  
Vincent had been on his own for some time now. Two years to be exact. He had travelled to many places, fought many trainers and caught many Pokèmon. Slate had evolved twice and was now a fully-fledged Machamp. Vincent and Slate where no longer equals in strength, even though they shared the same training. Vincent had made his idea into reality and made weight bands for himself and his Pokémon. It made the training harder and when they took them off, the difference in speed and strength gave a large boost in both confidence and skill.  
  
The morning came fast. Vincent slowly opened his eyes and saw the beautiful morning sun drive away the mist that had settled on the meadow in front of him. He sat perfectly still in his sleeping bag against the trunk of a tree and watched. He watched every movement in the high grass. After five minutes, he had discovered three Rattatas in the grass, four Pidgey nests, two were in the trees, and he had seen three Fearows high in the sky, seemingly rivals about territory. Last but not least, a Pinsir emerging from its bed, a hole in the ground, about twenty metres away from him.  
  
He found it fascinating to watch these amazing creatures. And more so, in their own environment. Even after almost two years, he still thought it was as interesting as it had been in the beginning of his loneliness.  
  
He moved, trying to avoid any attention from the Pokémon in the surroundings in front of him. Especially the Pinsir. Vincent did not want to start his day getting caught in the territory of a strong, grumpy Pinsir. He had seen what that type of Bug could do and he would rather run than wrestle the Pokémon.  
  
When the Pinsir had strolled away, not paying much attention to Vincent, he began packing up. It went fast because the only thing that was needed to do was roll up his sleeping bag and strap it on his backpack. Vincent stood still for a moment, thinking, and then decided. He took five Pokéballs from his belt and opened them.  
  
The shapes of the Pokémon took form and soon, they all stood before him.  
  
Slate. Marowak. Kingler. Fearow. And Jolteon.  
  
All of them stared at their trainer, waiting for him to speak to them.  
  
"Ok, listen up now guys. Yesterday, Marowak and I found a new partner." He always addressed the Pokémon as his partners, his equals. Him being their master made some Pokémon become rebellious and others became frightened. He wanted them to know that he was not their owner. He was their friend, their partner.  
  
"To be precise, we found a Scyther." None of the Pokémon said anything  
  
"But just so you know, he tried to attack me last night in an attempt to escape." Slate took a step forward and looked at Vincent with a grim look on his face. Vincent just smiled.  
  
"Thank you Slate but I won't need you guarding me. Fearow tried to attack me as well but we get along fine now." Slate was the one that had been with Vincent the longest and both of them did anything they could for each other.  
  
Vincent looked over at the large bird.  
  
"Fearow, since you haven't been around to see another partner coming in, I just wanna tell you that you don't have to worry. I am not replacing you or anything, it's just important to have a strong team. And a Scyther might be a strong ally. And, don't think that I'll be any different to Scyther than any of you." He turned to the group "I'll meet you all soon for an introduction. But for now, return."  
  
After having placed all of the five Pokémon in his belt, he took out the last one. The one with Scyther in it. He knew he had to be careful when releasing it for the first time. Some Pokémon were not too happy about being captured. Some attacked their trainers, like Fearow had.  
  
The worst thing that had happened to Vincent was when he had caught a very large Nidoking. When he released it, it charged right at him and caused a deep gash in his left shoulder. He still had the scar to show for it. They say you learn from your mistakes and Vincent was no exception. So nowadays, he was a little more careful.  
  
He opened the capture ball and the energy of the green bug flowed out and materialized. It held its sharp scythes in front of its eyes as if it was blinded.  
  
"Scyther." The Pokémon quickly opened its eyes and stood in a battle stance as it saw Vincent.  
  
He tried to read this Pokémon just like he read people. Of course, it was suspicious, maybe afraid, and maybe angry. But the thing he had to do was gain its trust. To the amount that was possible.  
  
Vincent held up his hands, palms facing the upset Pokémon. "Listen to me, Scyther. My name is Vincent Grey. I'm a Pokémon trainer. And yes, I am the one who caught you." He knew he took a risk when he said that.  
  
Vincent constantly had his eyes on Scyther and saw in the large eyes that Scyther indeed was angry.  
  
"Now, before you attack me, let me explain. I am not training Pokémon to be the best. Neither do I do it because I want to be a celebrity. My only reason is to beat a special person who has information that I need." He had let his arms drop to his sides. If Scyther wanted to attack him, it could.  
  
"Just so you know, I don't consider myself as your master. I'm only a trainer, one who knows how to train and one who guides you in battle. I know Scythers are both amazingly fast and strong. And I also know I can make you as strong and as fast as you'll ever be. Therefore, I would be honoured if you would join my team."  
  
Several minutes passed as Scyther actually considered working along with Vincent. He had thought it would give him another scar and then run off like that Nidoking had. But this Scyther actually thought it over.  
  
After a while, the Scyther looked into Vincent's eyes, stood up straight, let the deadly scythes drop to its sides and silently nodded.  
  
It was moments like these when Vincent really enjoyed what he was doing. "Thank you Scyther. I promise you won't regret this."  
  
Scyther snorted and looked away.  
  
(A long way to go on this one.)  
  
"Then may I introduce you to the rest of the group." Vincent said as he released his companions.  
  
Introducing Pokémon to one another was always the same. The one joining the group always felt out of place and could either be trying to be intimidating or submissive. Scyther was no surprise. Trying to intimidate five other Pokémon, three of them larger than Scyther itself were a dead race.  
  
(Attitude. I like that.)  
  
Vincent motioned for Jolteon to come over to him, between Scyther and the others. The Electric Pokémon swiftly leaped over to its trainers side.  
  
"Scyther, take a look at this." He pointed at the bands around Jolteon's feet and ripped one off, handing it to Scyther. The bug accepted the black band on the broad sides of the large claws. The band was indeed heavy and Vincent saw in Scyther's surprised face that the bug agreed.  
  
"That is a weight band. You will wear it at all times, except for battles where it is not allowed. We'll see how heavy you can handle and as you get stronger, we increase the weight. You will travel along with me and the others walking to our next destination. And as I said before, I am your partner. Look, I wear the weights too." Vincent stood himself up.  
  
"Everyone. Just so you know, you will be battling today. Yes, you too Scyther. We will be fighting a tournament on a beach so be prepared of sand and water. That means we will most likely face Water Pokémon. The tournament is only a couple of hours away so right after I have given Scyther some weights we are off."  
  
All of Vincent's allies took off on their own. They had been through this before and knew how the game was to be played. They walked or, in Fearows case, flew to the target and just before the battle, Vincent recalled them. The advantage of bringing out a Pokémon that surprised the opponent could often be an important factor determining whether you win or loose.  
  
Usually, Vincent gave the new Pokémon weights at two kilos. But then again, that was unevolved Pokémon like Eevee, Spearow and Krabby. In fact, all of his Pokémon had been young when he caught them. But here he was, with an adult Scyther.  
  
He decided to see what Scyther thought about the two-kilo weights.  
  
He attached them around the bug's legs and at the base of the scythes. That way, it would constantly be reminded of the weights presence.  
  
"Okay Scyther. You'll start with those weights and you can tell me tonight if you wanna change." Scyther just looked at him with that I-must-look- stupid-as-hell-look.  
  
"Oh, and one more thing. I'm gonna see what you can do at the tournament. But for the real strong opponents, I'll use one of the others. I hope you understand." Scyther waved his claw at Vincent and looked away. Like he cared.  
  
Vincent took his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. Slate and Kingler had stayed behind and just waited for Vincent to get ready. Jolteon appeared out of a shrubbery and Fearow dove down from the skies. The giant bird had only been with Vincent for two months but she had adjusted well to both Vincent's way of training and the weights around the base of it's wings and around it's legs. Heck, all his Pokémon had adjusted well. Even Kingler, who had problems walking on land at the same speed as the others, had tried it's best and was now coping very well.  
  
He hoped Scyther would be the same.  
  
After having walked for two and a half hours, Vincent could feel the scent of sea salt and hear the familiar sound of small waves hitting the beach and slowly returning back to the sea.  
  
(That so easy things can make you happy. It's quite strange really.) It was difficult to find a word for the passion Vincent had for the sea and the beaches surrounding it. Love was a far to strong word that Vincent tried to avoid at all costs. Like was a word that just wasn't strong enough. It was such things Vincent thought about at night. His own feelings towards things.  
  
But this was no time to think about things like that. It was time to battle. He stopped walking and pulled out his Pokéballs. "Okay everyone. Get ready for fighting when you come out."  
  
Vincent looked down at the royal crab at his right. "Don't worry Kingler. After the battles, you can get a long, nice swim in the sea. I promise."  
  
After having recalled all of his partners and secured them in his belt, Vincent looked himself over in a puddle of water. His hair had grown longer but the bath in a lake right before Scythers capture had given him the much needed opportunity to freshen up.  
  
(Clean? Yes. Presentable? Maybe not.) But in his present state, he might even intimidate some of his opponents. Always an advantage.  
  
Vincent Grey walked on for a while and when he cut through a thick line of palm trees, he set his bare foot down in hot, white sand. In front of him lay the wide, blue sea in all its might.  
  
He looked to his right and could clearly see the large battlefield marked out with white spray paint. Above it stood a booth with the sign "Registration".  
  
Vincent headed for the booth and the people who had gathered around it.  
  
  
  
First things first. I'm sorry this took such a long time to finish. I guess I'm just lazy. Make a lonely Swede happy and click that beautiful button ;) / Yorun 


	11. Beach Fight

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game, or TV show. If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 11: Beach Fight  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
She had stood in hot sand all day now and frankly, she had grown tired of it. Trainers had arrived the entire day, alone or in groups. All with the same goal. To compete and win the tournament that she had set up.  
  
She had nothing better to do than sit or stand and watch the people come and go to the booth she sat in. Trainers sure were in a group of their own. It seemed that many had very personal styles in both clothes and attitude.  
  
"Name?"  
  
She looked down at her watch who told her that the tournament would begin in less than ten minutes. The amount of people pleased her. A little more than 70 trainers had managed to find the place for the tournament. The low amount of combatants only made it easier for her. She just hoped she could find what she was searching for.  
  
"Vincent Grey"  
  
She looked over at the desk that stood in the opening of the booth to get a visual image of the person with the spoken name. She pushed down her black sunglasses to the tip of her nose and looked over the edge to get a clear view of the man in front of the desk.  
  
"May I see you Pokédex please, sir?"  
  
He wore a pair of rugged beige khaki pants with a black ball belt holding them up. But it wasn't the pants that made her look at him so thoroughly. Like every normal female, she knew a hot body when she saw it. And she was staring at one right now. The only words that came up in her mind to possibly describe what she saw were "Bodybuilder" But not really. She had seen bodybuilders and by comparison, this guy was relatively small and had a slim waist.  
  
But it wasn't just his body that made her look at him. His lean face wore a very serious look. The look that people wanted to know the reason behind.  
  
(Yes. He would be good.)  
  
"Mark! The name of that one."  
  
The man referred to as Mark threw a quick glance down at his papers before answering.  
  
"Vincent Grey"  
  
The registration had been a bit. unusual. Vincent had competed in several tournaments before but he had never had to sign a contract before entering one. This one made him sign one mostly about the prize in question. It said that if he won, he had to accept the prize and all that came with it.  
  
(Probably just tax on the price money.) He paid no more attention to the subject. He could deal with it later on.  
  
He walked over to a collection of rocks sticking out of the sand like teeth from a giant monster. Dropping his backpack at his side, he leaned his bare back on the rock and sat down in the sand, eying the trainers he could see. It could help him in the upcoming fights.  
  
There was a respectable amount of trainers on the beach. There were trainers he had seen before, trainers who actually were quite good. There were a couple of young trainers who looked like they just had gotten their first Pokémon. Some of the young ones were foolish enough to have their Pokémon out of their capture balls for the world to see. Vincent noticed several Pidgeys and Rattatas, one small Raticate and some other low-level Pokémon.  
  
Inexperienced trainers were not a threat. Slate could easily take on a team of six by himself and leave the battle without a scratch.  
  
The real competition lay in the older trainers who had the experience and time to raise better Pokémon.  
  
Sitting by the pointy rocks gave him the idea that he could see all the trainers. That idea was wrong.  
  
"Well well! What do we have here?" The voice came from behind him. It was a voice he had heard before. A voice that he never thought he would hear again, and was fine with it.  
  
"If it isn't our favourite beefcake himself. Vincent Grey. Coming to compete?"  
  
Without even looking, he answered. "Hello Jak. No, I'm not here for the tournament, I just love watching people play in the sand" The sarcasm was oozing from every word. It wasn't the first time he had met Jak after their graduation. They had met a couple of times at tournaments usually bigger than this and at every occasion, Jak had fought Vincent. Either in the tournament or afterwards, but the outcome was always the same. Vincent won and Jak ran away with promises of him beating the crap out of Vincent someday.  
  
"Thought so. You should cross your fingers that you don't have to fight me today, Vincent." He spoke very fast and with a strange tone in his voice.  
  
Vincent looked up at him ".And why is that?"  
  
"Just so you know Vincent, you have no chance in hell of beating me this time." He talked slowly and lower. It sounded like a threat.  
  
(What's his problem?) Vincent stood up, just inches away from Jak's face and stared the taller right in the eyes.  
  
"Just like you didn't win last time?"  
  
Just as Jak opened his mouth, the large speakers on the roof of the booth came to life and started talking.  
  
"Okay, trainers! Gather around!" Both Jak and Vincent turned their heads toward the sound where a fat man in a white shirt stood on a box and yelled in a mike.  
  
"Come on people! Get over here!" He had the attention of everyone and people started drawing closer to where he stood. "Good, now I want you to form a line facing this way. Yes, a nice and long line along the beach, that's right!"  
  
Not without hesitation, a line consisting of trainers began forming on the beach. Vincent put himself almost at the end of the line to the left. When the commotion had died and everyone was waiting for the next move, a woman picked up a megaphone and started talking.  
  
"First of all, thank you all for coming here on this beautiful day. Secondly, I'm sad to say that not all of you are going to fight here today. Because of a staff shortage, we can only handle 32 combatants, no more." All of the trainers immediately became uneasy and started whispering to each other. However, the atmosphere was relatively calm.  
  
"We are very sorry but we have to ask all of you who are under the age of fifteen to get out of the line." The atmosphere wasn't calm anymore. Curses were yelled and sighs were sighed at the same time as many trainers walked away.  
  
"I have to ask those of you who don't get a paper to leave the line as well." The woman put down her megaphone and grabbed a cardboard box instead and walked up to the first person in the now incomplete line. Vincent watched as she looked at trainer after trainer and gave them something on a paper. Those who didn't get the paper walked away from the line. As she got closer, he could see that the ones that walked away didn't exactly have happy faces.  
  
(What kind of a tournament is this?!)  
  
The woman was right beside him now. The girl who stood next to Vincent walked away. Now the woman stood right in front of Vincent.  
  
She was a bit taller than he was. He made an educated guess that she was about five foot eight compared to his five foot six. She had a brown ponytail sticking out the back of a black cap with a red logo in the front. He felt uneasy when she looked at him because she had a pair of sunglasses on. That way, he couldn't see where she looked. It was well known among guys that you wear sunglasses to the beach for two reasons. To look cool and to be able to spy at girls without them ever knowing that you look at them.  
  
She looked at him from head to toe and said, "You're in." He was given a paper with two numbers, two and five.  
  
The woman walked to the end of the line and picked the final fighter. Jak.  
  
"The numbers you have tell you where and against who you are going to battle. So if you have the number one and three, you fight at arena 1 and against fighter number 4 on that arena. Now, follow these men to your respective arena." She pointed behind her towards four men with large numbers around their neck. Both Vincent and Jak steered their steps towards the second man.  
  
They both looked at each other and Jak smiled. "I know I'll fight you Vincent. And I know I'll win."  
  
Vincent looked ahead, not letting Jak get to him. "Sure. Whatever."  
  
Soon, eight people had gathered at the second man and headed off for the arena behind the tall rocks where Vincent had his backpack. The man introduced himself as the judge of their arena and told them the rules. They were going to fight with a maximum of two Pokémon and items were not allowed. When you had lost a match, you were out of the competition while the winners fought each other until there was only one undefeated winner left.  
  
"Any questions?" Vincent raised his hand "Yes?"  
  
"Are the Pokémon allowed to wear weights in the battles?" The other trainers looked at Vincent probably thinking he was stupid, at least it looked that way.  
  
"No. We have decided to use the same rules as during the Pokémon league and they are very strict when it comes to the use of items unless the Pokémon League accepts it. Like Cubone's Bone Club." He then looked over the others "Anyone else? No one. Good. Then, without further ado, let's get started!"  
  
The fighters with the number one and two took their place on the arena. Jak was fighter number two. Much to his dismay, Vincent wasn't number one.  
  
It was always good to watch a fight. You might learn something about your opponent and how to use certain Pokémon. But not in this case though. Jak was as predictable as a techno beat. He always did the same thing. In every fight, there he was, thinking that he was invincible and that his strategy was really great. It wasn't.  
  
"Begin!" The referee had just made the signal.  
  
"I choose you, Butterfree!"  
  
(Oh god. Why fight at all? Jak's gonna win and I've never even seen that kid before! "I choose you Butterfree!"? No shit kid, I think that Butterfree is gonna notice anyhow.)  
  
And just as Vincent had predicted, Jak pulled put the first Pokéball on his belt, enlarged it and tossed it onto the field in a flash of yellow light.  
  
Standing three feet over the ground, Jak's Sandslash eyed its target flying back and forth over its head.  
  
(Smart move, JAKass. Never heard that flying Pokémon are good against ground types? And you even got to decide after that kid had revealed his choice. Man, one could think you've trained for two months, not two years.) It angered Vincent to watch such poor strategy. Especially when Jak was as confident in himself as he was. Sure, Jak had his moments but this surely wasn't one of them.  
  
"Sandslash, do a Swift attack!" Jak pointed with his entire arm at the Butterfree in the air above the field.  
  
"Butterfree! Use your Whirlwind!" Both the Pokémon executed their attacks; Sandslash unleashed a barrage of stars at the bug looming above. The attack slowed Butterfree down a bit but after having gained its composure, it started flapping it's broad wings and sent powerful winds at the Sandslash.  
  
(. I wish I had a pair o sunglasses.) Vincent shielded his eyes from the sand that whirled around him for what seemed like minutes. The attack was pointless, really. All it did was create a diversion for both Pokémon to hide. Heck, it was better for the Sandslash! The mouse Pokémon could find a place to hide, stay there, and let the sand give camouflage while the Butterfree couldn't hide because if it stopped flapping its wings, the diversion would be no more.  
  
The winds settled and the sand took its place on the ground again. Butterfree was lower than before and it panted heavily. Sandslash, however, was nowhere to be seen. Jak had a smile that Vincent knew all too well. He had seen it on the Academy when Jak and Vincent fought. He had that exact smile whenever he had the advantage.  
  
Butterfree hovered in the air as both itself and its trained stared intensely at the field that was now covered in a new, think layer of sand. The white lines that ranged the arena were now erased and so was Sandslash. Almost.  
  
Before anyone could react, a pillar of sand rose beneath Butterfree and at the top of the pillar, was Sandslash. It got up behind the Bug and clung onto it's back, forcing it's wings to fold. Sandslashes aren't meant to fly. And neither are Butterfrees with Sandslashes on their back. So as soon as all the momentum had been lost in the ground type's jump, the two Pokémon fell to the ground. And Sandslash made sure that Butterfree was the one to take the hit.  
  
"Butterfree, no!" The trainer both looked and sounded desperate. If Butterfree hit the ground, it most likely wouldn't have a chance of getting back up.  
  
"Sandslash, don't let it go."  
  
(One down, one to go.)  
  
"Butterfree is unable to fight! The round goes to number 2!"  
  
Fighter number 1 recalled his Butterfree and without hesitation, threw in another Pokémon. The Pokémon that the trainer thought was a worthy opponent to Sandslash was.  
  
a Parasect?!  
  
Vincent frowned (A bug trainer. On a beach? Yeah right.)  
  
Thin, pointy legs were not a hit on a place when the ground is loose and easy to sink into. And the freshly stirred up sand was very easy to sink into.  
  
"Poison Powder!" But then again. Maybe the Parasect didn't have to move?  
  
A thick purple began to seep out from underneath the mushroom head on the bug and completely surrounded the air around the uninjured Sandslash. It couldn't avoid breathing it in and as soon as the toxic powder had dissipated, Sandshrews face was contorted in pain.  
  
"Hang in there Sandslash and Slash that bug!" Still in pain, Sandslash charged over the arena to slash the living bajeezus out of whatever had caused the poison in it. Parasect couldn't do much more then just stand and watch as the mad mouse ran at it with claws ready.  
  
It did have to move. And now would be a very, very good time! The shrew reached Parasect and reared back it's right arm to strike while the bug could only brace itself for the impact. But instead of slashing at it, it slammed its entire forearm into the Parasect and sent it flying only to land on it's back a few yards away. It didn't move at all, just lay there. Its legs hung limp and its eyes were closed.  
  
Either Jak had been putting his Pokémon, or just Sandslash, through some really extensive training, or that was a really weak and really light Parasect. Vincent was surprised either way.  
  
"Great job Sandslash. Now use Fury Swipes on it!"  
  
Vincent looked over to Jak, who was all excited (What? You're praising your Pokémon when he didn't do as you said he should? Do I sense a rebel in Sandslash? I think I do.)  
  
But there was something not totally right. When that kid's Butterfree had been knocked to the ground, he yelled at it. But now, when his Parasect got slapped five yards, he didn't say a word. He just stood there, with a face that looked like someone had just told him a joke that he desperately didn't want to laugh at. Even though it was the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life.  
  
Sandslash walked over to the knocked out Parasect that had it's back towards Sandslash. The mouse hunched over to look at its face with claws ready to strike at every movement, no matter how small it may be. The bug's face lay still and lifeless. The eyes were shut and the mouth hung open. Sandslash stood up straight and lowered its claws.  
  
"Now!" The trainer yelled out with all he could muster and Parasect immediately came to life. It threw itself at Sandslash and grabbed hold of it with its legs. Making it unable to use its dreaded claws.  
  
"Giga Drain!" Parasect began sucking the fight out of Sandslash and combined with the poison it all came to and end very fast. Sandslash fell to the ground still with Parasect wrapped around it.  
  
"Sandslash is down! The round goes to number 1!"  
  
(Well well. looks like Jak might have a challenge after all.) God he hated being wrong. Good thing no one knew his previous presumption.  
  
Jak had his right hand to his ball belt a few seconds before making his choice. It was big, blue and had a tail. It was a Nidoqueen.  
  
"Nidoqueen! Body Slam!"  
  
"Get out of the way and Slash it!" The rather bulky Nidoqueen wasn't what you can say agile but apparently, Parasect was. When Nidoqueen was in the air, it slid to the side and made the queen land with a loud thud in the sand while Parasect slashed it over and over again. Nidoqueen got up as fast as it could but when it did, it had already taken three or four powerful slashes from Parasect.  
  
It winched as it got up and glared at Parasect, who had jumped away a bit.  
  
"Poison Powder." Again, the Parasect unleashed a purple cloud right into the face of its enemy.  
  
(Poison a Poison type? Good luck.) Vincent looked over to Jak, who suddenly had a smile on his face.  
  
"Earthquake, Nidoqueen!" The large Poison type jumped up high up in the air, only to come back down with devastating force. The ground shook violently for a few seconds and the force of the move made several of the other trainers topple over. Parasect was flung in the air by the shockwave and landed on its head rather badly but got on its legs quickly.  
  
The two Pokémon both did nothing. They just stood there and stared at each other at the same time as they caught their breath. Both of them were tired. One or two moves could finish it all.  
  
Then Jak yelled, "Mud slap!" Nidoqueen threw a handful of sand right in Parasects face and it clawed desperately to get its vision back.  
  
"Forget about the sand and do a Leech Seed attack! It hasn't moved yet!" Parasect shot out the seeds as fast as it could in the direction of Nidoqueen. The seeds struck their target and sprouted vines that started to wrap around Nidoqueen and zap the life out of it.  
  
Nidoqueen struggled but it was too tired and weak to get out of the vines grasp. It fell to the ground. Unconscious.  
  
"Nidoqueen has fainted! The round and match goes to fighter number 1!"  
  
Both of the trainers recalled their Pokémon and left the battlefield. Jak headed straight for his backpack behind Vincent and hissed between clenched teeth "Don't say a word, Grey. Not a word."  
  
"Looks to me like I don't have to. Are you leaving already?"  
  
"No, I'm not. I have to wait for someone so don't think I'll stick around here and watch you lose. I'm gone." He turned around and walked away, leaving Vincent waiting for his own match.  
  
As always, tell me what you think! I need the ego boost. -___- / Yorun 


	12. The Calm Before The Storm

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game, or TV show. If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission. So there.  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 11: The Calm Before The Storm  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤ After Jak had left, Vincent waited two turns and fought his first match with Scyther. It did a good job and took out a Nidorino single handed but lost to a Charmeleon in the second round that Vincent's Kingler took care of. The matches were not very challenging up till the final match. Vincent had to fight a trainer named David Jensen. He had won a few championships before and had a reputation that he was a tough nut to crack. And that he was. His Pokémon were very well trained and it was an even fight. At first, it was David's Wartortle against Kingler. Kingler just barely lost the fight and Vincent sent in Slate, his strongest. Wartortle never had a chance and in the final round, Slate had to defeat a Hitmonchan. Hitmonchan was faster than Slate and kept on punching like it was in a fury. Slate was pummelled into the ground a couple of times but Slate caught Hitmonchans fist and did a devastating Seismic Toss followed with a Focus Energy and Cross Chop to win the match.  
  
When the final fight was over, Vincent had to follow the referee into a house, a little further down the beach. The three other winners were there as well, two guys and one girl. At a desk in front of them, sat three men and three women. They told them that they weren't going to fight each other. No, they were going to be interviewed. Or as one of them put it: "Tom Keys, Vincent Grey, Mike Thorn and Wendy Sullivan. You are going to get the opportunity of your lifetime."  
  
That's right. Wendy Sullivan. She was the one that Jak had to wait for. Now, let's pick up the trail outside the house, where Wendy is poking Vincent for some unknown reason. ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
"Wendy? *poke* What *poke* are you doing?!"  
  
She straightened up and looked him in the eyes with a large smile, revealing her white teeth. "I just wanted to see if you were real! You've changed so much, Vincent!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tight as she could. Vincent, the poor bastard, had no idea what to do and didn't even dare to hug her back. He could only blush.  
  
"Yeah... sure. You've also changed a lot, Wendy. I didn't recognize you" She let go of him and happily exclaimed:  
  
"Really? And here I was, thinking that you knew who it was but didn't want to say hello to little me..." the best way to describe Wendy's expression was a pout blended with a sweet smile. And puppy eyes of course.  
  
Her face was way too close his for him to feel comfortable. "No, really! I didn't recognize you."  
  
"Then what is different about me?" She finally let go of his neck and did a twirl in front of him as he sat down.  
  
She had grown. And not just in length. Her bosom was noticeably bigger and her hips were broader. She wore short beige shorts that only reached a couple of inches down her thigh. If they were any shorter, they would officially be considered hotpants. On her upper body, she had a yellow bikini top with red flowers. She had also cut her hair shorter and dyed blonde stripes in her brown hair. All in all, she had gotten hot.  
  
(But I can't tell her that! She'll... slap me!)  
  
"You're... taller. And you've cut your hair."  
  
"So you noticed. Don't you think I look better now, than before?" She made puppy eyes towards him again.  
  
(Damn girls! They always make things so hard...) *A/N* no pun intended on that one! Honest!  
  
He didn't say anything, just looked another way, like there was something very, very interesting over there in the sand.  
  
"Oh, come on Vincent! I was just joking! Besides, I almost didn't recognize you either. You've gotten bigger since last time I saw you." She said matter of factly.  
  
"What are you talking about? I haven't grown an inch. I'm just as small as I was back then." It was true. He had stopped growing entirely at 5'6.  
  
"That's true. You aren't any taller. But you have still gotten bigger." He looked up at her from where he sat. "You are even more muscular and your hair is different too! I don't remember you being blonde?"  
  
"The sun dyed it."  
  
"Hey, what are those?" she pointed towards the bands around his wrists.  
  
"These? They are weight bands. All my Pokémon have them around their legs and arms. That way, I can train them to become stronger and faster all the time." He couldn't help to feel proud of his invention.  
  
"Ooh! Lemme try one!" He ripped off the Velcro bindings on his left wrist and gave her the black band. But instead of taking it, she just extended her arm and motioned for him to put it on. He took her hand in his and strapped on the weight. He looked her in the eyes and let go of the band.  
  
Her arm dropped to her side immediately and she was, to say the least, surprised.  
  
"Ugh! Vincent how much does this weigh? I can't even lift my arm up to scratch my nose!" She struggled to get her arm in the air but could only move it and inch or so.  
  
"It's only about 25 pounds..." He got a hold of her arm and took the band off her, putting it back on his own arm.  
  
"Only?! You're mad Vincent." She smiled at him as he fastened the Velcro again.  
  
Silence  
  
"Sooo, what do you think the deal is with these interviews anyway?"  
  
(How the hell should I know? They could be searching for stolen Pokémon, someone to sponsor, anything! He was a little suspicious about this entire racket just to determine a winner.)  
  
"I don't know. They haven't told me anymore than they told you." He began poking around in the sand between his legs.  
  
"...Wendy? Where's Sara?"  
  
(aww... I had forgotten how cute he really is.) She smiled at both his question and his awkward behaviour.  
  
"Why do you wanna know?"  
  
"I... haven't seen her in a while. And I just want to know how she is."  
  
Wendy just looked at him slyly "What?! I can't ask that? Fine, don't tell me then. I don't care." He turned his side to her and looked out to sea. She did the same.  
  
"We split up six months ago. We just had to get experience on your own. It was for the best. I have her phone number if you want it."  
  
"No thanks. I don't need her number." (Because I don't have a phone...)  
  
"How did you get to travel with a guy like... Jak?" Vincent motioned for the rocks were Jak sat, seemingly doing nothing except waiting for Wendy getting ready to leave.  
  
"Two weeks ago, I met Jak at a tournament. He cooked me lunch and we talked a lot over the two days that the tournament lasted. Then he asked if I wanted to go with him. And he really is a nice guy, so I couldn't say no."  
  
The door on the house opened and the winner of the first field, Tom Keys, came out followed by one of the men. He looked around and fixed on Vincent.  
  
"Vincent Grey? Your turn."  
  
Inside the house, he was told to sit down in a wooden chair in front of a large, white table where the six people sat. It felt strange sitting there, being stared at by complete strangers.  
  
The sweaty man in the middle spoke: "Vincent, we are just going to ask you a few questions and we want you to answer truthfully."  
  
"Sure, but why are you doing this?"  
  
"We'll tell you when we are done, okay?" The man smiled creepily, like a car salesman would, put on a pair of glasses and grabbed a pen.  
  
"Age?"  
  
"Seventeen."  
  
"Date of birth?"  
  
"The eighteenth of July 1986"  
  
"Any brothers or sisters?"  
  
"No. Me and my mom live alone."  
  
"Do you smoke, drink or do drugs?"  
  
"No, no and no. I've never even tried to smoke, drink or do drugs. They're bad for you."  
  
"Describe yourself with three words."  
  
"Bored, Blonde, Short." (Are they done anytime today?!)  
  
"Do you have a girlfriend?"  
  
"...No. I'm single."  
  
"For how long have you trained Pokémon?"  
  
"Two years now."  
  
"Are you planning on participating in the Pokémon League?"  
  
"Don't think so. There are so much people there. But maybe. I've heard that the trainers can actually be a challenge."  
  
"What are you going to do after this interview?"  
  
"Find out why you interviewed me."  
  
"Besides that."  
  
"Well, first of all, I'm going to walk down the beach and find a good place to camp tonight. Then, I'm going to train with my Pokémon for an hour or so until it's time to eat. Oh, and I promised Kingler a swim in the sea." He had to remember that.  
  
"Why do you think you should win this final stage of the tournament?"  
  
"Because if this was a normal tournament, I think I would've won already. The other winners all look formidable but no one is unbeatable. I know at least one weakness about all three of them. And I believe my Pokémon are stronger than theirs."  
  
"What makes a good Pokémon trainer?"  
  
"There are many things. But the most important is the relationship with your Pokémon. No doubt about it. You have to make them respect you and you have to be their friend and partner. Not their master. Plus you have to know how to train them and train with them. If you do, they'll give you more respect. But as I said, there are lots of things."  
  
"Why do you train Pokémon?"  
  
(Because I have to. If I don't, I'll never find out if the leader at Twin Falls knows how I can get home.)  
  
"Because I want to see how strong I can make both myself and the Pokémon I train. And it's way better than standing in a hamburger restaurant taking orders all day."  
  
"Thank you Vincent, that would be all. Now, before you leave, we need to take your picture. For security reasons." He pulled out a camera and took a shot of Vincent's face before he could object.  
  
"Could you please stand up?" Vincent did so and the man took a full body picture.  
  
"Can I go now?" He got a nod in return and stepped out the door.  
  
As soon as Vincent had left, the man that had interviewed Vincent popped out a disc from the digital camera he just used and gave it along with the notes from Vincent's replies to a man with a laptop in the room next door. He started typing away and uploaded Vincent's picture into the computer.  
  
After five minutes, he had uploaded Vincent's replies, his picture and the information from his Pokédex on the Internet.  
  
The other winners had a page just like Vincent's. In the bottom of each page was a large button that said: "Think this person should win? Click here and you'll see him or her next week!"  
  
And they did click. After an hour, 5000 people had voted for the person they thought should win and the voting was finished. The people had chosen a winner. And the six inside the house agreed.  
  
The referee that had led Vincent to the house in the first place came out and called for them all to come in again.  
  
With the irritation clearly showing in his voice, Vincent said to Wendy "Maybe now we'll get some answers instead of just waiting!"  
  
The door closed behind them again. The sweaty man with the creepy smile leaned on the chair they sat in at the time of their interviews. And the other five still sat at the same place like before. Still as quiet but with a composed look to their faces. Vincent didn't notice before but all of them looked like the stereotype office-worker. They had white shirts with ties and black khakis followed by black, shiny shoes. The man by the chair drew in a deep breath and started talking.  
  
"As all of you have noticed by now, this is not an ordinary tournament. You four fought excellently and have proven your strength as trainers."  
  
(What?! I don't wanna hear a speech. I want an explanation!)  
  
"We all know that or else we wouldn't be standing here. You can instead tell us what's going on!" Vincent's voice unintentionally rose at the end of the sentence.  
  
"That was what I was trying to tell you. Now listen to me instead of interrupting." Vincent fumed at the mockery this man put him through. What did he take him for? A child?  
  
(I'm probably twice as strong as you, office-boi!) Although the man looked close to be thirty years old.  
  
The man gestured towards his co-workers. "We aren't judges, if that's what you thought. Heck, we don't even know anything about Pokémon or Pokémon battles." His face changed expression from composed to something that looked like he wanted pity for his ignorance.  
  
"I am the Vice President of RTV Networks and these people are my employees. We are here to find the star for a new television show where we follow a Pokémon trainer for six months and record that trainers every day life, every battle everywhere he or she goes." He paused and looked at the four youngsters in front of him. The girl, Wendy, gasped and held her hands to her mouth while the boys just smiled or stood like a statue unable of emotion.  
  
"Take a look at this." The man grabbed a laptop, opened it and showed the display to Vincent and the others. Inside, there was an Internet page with the headline "Choose the new reality show star!" Below the headline stood their names and a thumbnail of their face beside their respective name. He clicked on the first name that read Mike Thorn and up came another page with a full body picture of Mike on the right side and his info on the left.  
  
"We've taken your answers, images and Pokédex profiles, uploaded them on the Internet and let the viewers decide. Of course, we've had a saying as well. That's the reason we interviewed you, took your picture and made you wait for an hour. I hope you understand."  
  
"So... the winner is decided?" Tom asked  
  
"Yes. The voting is finished and we all agree to what the viewers think." The remaining five in the background nodded approvingly.  
  
"The star of the new reality show is." he raised his arm over his head and let it drop as he pointed with his index finger  
  
"you."  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
A/N: This chapter was a boring one, I know. And I will try to get the chapters out faster so you'll actually remember what happened and that this story actually exists -__-'  
  
Leo Cole, Ravens Destiny, The Crystal Wyvern, Pikajenn, The Duke of Briarcliffe, Aya Eliya, Edgar, Lavenderangel, Matt Morwell, Shinra-26, adam, VillageIdiot13, Rikko and Black Griffin.  
  
Thank you all for reviewing my fic. You people are the only reason I keep going and for that, I love you all. Again, Thank you.  
  
Pikajenn: Thank you again for reading this through and pointing out errors that my sleepy eyes didn't see.  
  
Leo Cole: Thanks for pointing out that error. Although I haven't fixed it yet. -__-  
  
Ravens destiny: I kept going. So now you can't hurt me! Hah!  
  
Everyone that might read this: I need your help. I have yet to come up with a name for the TV-show and I thought that you might have a suggestion or two. I would gladly accept any names but if I use them or not is a completely different thing. Of course, you will get all the credit for the name. If you come up with it that is. :) / Yorun 


	13. A Grey Life

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game or TV show. If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 13: A Grey Life  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
"you." He looked him straight in the eyes as his finger fell, letting everyone know who the winner was.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Congratulations, Vincent. You are the one the viewers want to see on TV and we think you are the man for the job. You are the new star!" He walked up to Vincent and shook his hand firmly, then turned to Wendy, Tom and Mike.  
  
"Thank you all for your cooperation. You've been very helpful. You are free to go and we expect you to tune in on the show!" He shook all their hands and practically shoved them out the door before they had the chance of saying anything. He then turned to Vincent who really hadn't processed all the facts yet. He looked like someone had sucked out his brain with a straw and left an empty, stupid shell.  
  
"Vincent, please sit down." The man grabbed the chair and turned it in Vincent's direction. He sat down in the chair slowly, as if it was going to crumble under him, still with a dazed look on his face.  
  
"What are you thinking Vincent? How great it is going to be? How famous you are going to get? Can you imagine how many girls will have your picture on their wall?" He leaned himself on the left side of the white desk and held his arms across his chest as he had a pleased look on his face.  
  
Vincent couldn't say what he was thinking simply because he didn't know. There were so many thoughts, expressions and emotions whirling around in his head that he couldn't identify them all. Agitation for having to postpone his fight at Twin Falls. Curiosity about the show and what it was about. And joy for being on TV.  
  
The majority of his feelings were negative, making him want to run away as fast as he could while screaming his lungs out.  
  
The whirlwind inside of his head slowly came to a stop. And like a roulette wheel, the ball landed and showed to brightly shining neon words. NO WAY. With those two words, Vincent was brought back to reality. "Not really. I'm thinking about how to tell you people that you have to choose someone else. I won't do it." Vincent took his eyes from the wooden floor and looked at the people in front of him.  
  
But he didn't get the reaction he had expected. Instead of talking amongst themselves, they sat as quiet as before. Not a sound could be heard in the small room.  
  
"Yes you will." A tall and slender man with black, shiny hair licked back and a face that resembled that of a rat with stood up and gave Vincent a paper. "You actually don't have a choice."  
  
The paper was the one that Vincent had signed before he participated in the tournament.  
  
"That is a contract saying very clear that if you should win, you have to accept the prize that has been given to you and all the things that come with it." Vincent hadn't read the paper thoroughly, just signed it right away. But now, he took a close look of it again and in the last part, it stood exactly all those things. In very, very tiny letters.  
  
"You can't do this. I just thought it was tax on the prize money!" His voice clearly showed the desperation he felt.  
  
"Excuse our lawyer Vincent. But he is right. You are obliged to star in this new show whether you like it or not."  
  
Vincent stood up very rapidly and stared the man in the eyes. "Can't you take any of the others? I know that Wendy would at least want this. I don't!"  
  
"When the viewers voted, they voted for you. The one that got the second most votes was still far away to ever compete with you. They want to see you on TV and that they will. We won't change our mind."  
  
Vincent sat back down again, admitting defeat. He held his head in his hands and drew his hands through his blonde hair. "Who are you people?" He looked back up again at the one man standing. "I know that you are the Vice President of RTV or whatever but I don't know your name. And who are all these people?" He motioned for the other five at the desk. "I can see that you are all office people and that that guy is a lawyer. But I have no clue about the rest of you."  
  
"Yes, that's right! I haven't even introduced my employees, how inconsiderate of me. I am Max Devon." Vincent had never been any good with names. But he did remember that Devon introduced the three women as the soon to be director of the new show, the head of programme acquisition and the head of audience analyses. The two men were the lawyer and the producer of the show.  
  
"So tell me what I need to know." He hated it all. It felt like he had been tricked and deceived by these people. His life had just taken a turn to the worse. He didn't want a camera team stepping in his heels everyday. He could even get into trouble because of the publicity he would get. The fact of the matter was that he was an alien in this world and he probably didn't have any personal records. If anyone wanted to check up on him, they could. And then, they would discover that something was odd about him. Then he would have to explain why he didn't have any records. And what does one say when asked that?!  
  
The producer, a rather fat man with a bald head spoke up for the first time. "The name of the show is 'Wild Life'. As you heard before, the show is to last six months. It will be about the everyday life of a Pokémon trainer including the hardships, battles and the trainings. You will be filmed every day from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. With some exceptions of course."  
  
"What kind of exceptions?"  
  
"Lets just say that we won't film you using the toilet."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Our crew will send in a tape everyday and we will edit it to suit the timeframe. So when we film you on Tuesday, the world will see it on Wednesday. It's very simple."  
  
"Your crew? No. No way. You said it yourself, Vice president guy whatever your name is. You don't know anything about Pokémon or Pokémon battles. But I do. And I can tell you that having a crew of loud people running around in my heels in the wild won't let me capture any new Pokémon and you won't be able to film wild Pokémon at all."  
  
"And why is that?" The Vice President asked.  
  
"How many people are the crew that you had planned following me around?"  
  
"Five, maybe six people."  
  
"Do those people have any experience in Pokémon whatsoever?"  
  
The Vice President thought for a while. "...no. They have experience in field work but not directly with Pokémon."  
  
Vincent turned his left shoulder towards the desk. "See this?" He pointed to the large, white scar that went diagonally over his shoulder. "I got that from an enraged Nidoking. And I got away easy. People don't think about it but the majority of the worlds Pokémon can be very dangerous. And if you send out five or six people to follow me, I can't keep an eye on all of them. Someone might get hurt."  
  
The fat producer lit a cigar "You won't have to keep an eye out for our crew. We can send a security team with them."  
  
"So I have more people to follow me? No. That's even worse."  
  
"Then what do you suggest, Vincent?"  
  
He thought about it for a while. "One man. One camera."  
  
The producer leaned over the table and looked Vincent in the eyes as he spoke "You are right about we don't know anything about Pokémon. But apparently, you don't know anything about filming. We need at least three cameramen to shoot from different angles and to work on shifts. Plus we need an audio operator and someone to fix the lighting."  
  
"I can wear a mike to fix the audio. Put a flashlight on the camera to fix the lighting."  
  
"I don't think you understand Vincent, you see..." before he could go any further, Vincent cut him off.  
  
"No, I understand perfectly. I understand that you are depending on me to make this a good show. If you don't at least give me this, I can guarantee you that this show will be cancelled in a month because no one will watch it." The room went silent again as both the producer and Vincent stared at each other until the producer stood up and walked into another room.  
  
"Devon. Get over here." They closed the door behind themselves and the producer stared Devon right in the eyes.  
  
"We can't use him. The kid's much too obstinate! Any normal kid would've been happy to get this chance but he just objects and tries to change things! I think we should choose one of the others, like he said."  
  
Devon just stood silent and stared right back at the fat man.  
  
"No." He turned for the door.  
  
"What?! Devon, are you serious? Why use him?"  
  
"You saw the results of the voting yourself! That kid got 47 percent! And look at him! Have you seen those big, black things on his arms and legs? What are those?"  
  
"I don't know! And I want to ask him as much as..."  
  
"Exactly! You want to find out as much as possible about him!" Devon lowered his voice till it was almost a whisper. "That is special. If I'm right, I think we can make this show really big. Lets give him what he wants." The producer didn't say anything. Instead, he lit a new cigar and inhaled a lungful of smoke.  
  
"Okay. Give the kid what he wants. But he will have to agree to some of our terms as well. And Devon? Which cameraman will come with him?"  
  
"I think DJ should go. She's got an education in camera, lighting and audio. Plus, she can help him not look like a total bum all the time."  
  
The producer nodded and opened the door. Vincent, who rolled around two minimized Pokéballs in his hand, observed the smiling Devon and the somewhat grumpy producer.  
  
"Well Vincent. We have decided to let you have your way on this one. We send only one cameraman." Devon had seated himself at the white table again while the producer walked towards the door.  
  
"Now, lets introduce you to the cameraman." Right after Devon said that, Vincent heard the door opening and the producer saying something to one of the people outside. Seconds later, the door closed.  
  
"Why can't the others come in?" The voice was high and clear and anyone could've told it belonged to a woman.  
  
Without noticing himself, Vincent immediately became much more tensed. He got up from the chair and turned for the woman who just had walked in. She was taller than him, around five feet eight. Vincent could see she had chestnut brown hair tied in a ponytail that stuck out through the back of her black cap and reached a couple of inches down below her shoulders. Her upper body was clad in a baby blue tank top that made her brown eyes look very light. She wore a pair of cut off jeans and beige boots along with what looked like sturdy socks. In contrast to Vincent, who still was barefoot.  
  
When Vincent stood up, she stopped walking and just smiled as she looked at him.  
  
"Vincent Grey, meet Diane Jones. Diane Jones, meet Vincent Grey." Devon said while gesturing towards the two.  
  
"Hello Vincent. You can call me DJ." She smiled towards him at the same time as she tilted her head to her side and blinked a couple of times. (Hey there cutie...)  
  
But the smile disappeared when she looked over at Devon and put her hands on her hips. "Answer me. Why can't the others come in?"  
  
"Because they aren't going on this job. Our star here had a demand so you are the only crewmember that will work with Vincent. You better do a good job!"  
  
"Ok. But I really think that-" She couldn't say much more until Devon interrupted her.  
  
"Don't object DJ. Or I'll take one of the others. I believe you can do this so don't prove me wrong." He stared her fiercely in the eyes and pointed an accusing finger at her.  
  
She smiled at him. "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."  
  
"Good. Now I have nothing left to say. But didn't you have something Mary?" He looked over to the left woman at the table.  
  
(Head of audience analysis...)  
  
"Not much, only a few objections." She rose from her chair and walked over to Vincent, staring at him all the time. She circled around him like a wolf while keeping her hands linked behind her back.  
  
"Put your arms above your head." Somehow, she either reminded him of a Nazi in old Germany or a really strict police officer. (What are you gonna do? Check me for concealed weapons?)  
  
"Ah. As I thought. This" She pointed to his armpit and the small gathering of hair. "has to go."  
  
Vincent's eyes immediately got considerably larger. "Excuse me?"  
  
The Nazi-like woman just lifted her chin a little and stared at him "According to a survey we have done, most women prefer men with shaved armpits. You will shave yours in order to make the show as popular as possible." Vincent remembered that he still had his arms in the air, so he put them to his side again.  
  
"Hell no! Never! Girls shave their armpits but not men! And if you haven't noticed, I'm not a girl!" said Vincent  
  
The woman looked at Devon, who stood leaned against a wall. "Listen Vincent. We agreed to your terms that only one cameraman should go with you. We are actually being very nice to you! We agreed to a term that is much more difficult than yours! The only thing you have to do is shave your armpits. That's it. If you don't, however, we can sue you for breaking a contract." Vincent stared Devon in the eyes and Devon defiantly stared back. For a few seconds, the room was dead silent.  
  
"Fine." Vincent said between gritted teeth, never breaking the stare.  
  
"Good choice." Devon took his back off the wall and walked over to DJ and Vincent. "DJ, you make sure that he shaves his armpits." She held back a very, very wide smile. Vincent could see that and it only made him irritated.  
  
"Will do, sir!"  
  
Devon turned to Vincent. "You are free to go. DJ will start the recording as soon as you wake up tomorrow, so be prepared." Devon placed his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "I have a feeling this show will be something extraordinary."  
  
Vincent grabbed hold of Devon's hand, maybe a little harder than necessary and coldly replied, "I don't." He turned around and walked out the door. DJ followed.  
  
"DJ!" She turned around again towards Devon. Who had his finger set on her.  
  
"Don't. Flirt. With. Him." He shook his finger at every word, making sure she heard.  
  
"I never do that!" She giggled and walked out into the sun, closing the door behind her.  
  
Devon stood with his back towards his crew, seemingly looking at the door. "People, we have a change of plans. The show won't be named 'Wild Life'. The name is" He turned around  
  
"A Grey Life."  
  
A/N: Godday to you all. Before, I have promised that I would try to push out the chapters at a faster rate. I won't do that this time. Instead, I have to say that I will be putting this story on hiatus for a while. My reason for this is that before, I read a lot. I don't do that anymore and I have discovered that writing has been harder.  
  
So my solution to this problem is that I take a break, read like a madman and find more inspiration that way. Don't worry. I will write more. What else would I do with all these ideas?! But, be prepared to wait a while for the next chapter. But when you get an e-mail from me, it means I'm back in the game! Think you have any ideas on the path Vincent should take? Any situations you want him in? Mail me and I might just use those ideas.  
  
PikaJenn: Thank you for beta-reading! Care to do it again? *looks at Jenn with puppy-eyes* please?  
  
The Duke Of BriarCliffe: Thank you for the name suggestions. I used one of them as inspiration. 'Living on The Wild Side' magically turned into 'Wild Life'.  
  
Ravens Destiny: Thank you for the... um... hug. And I won't meddle in the affairs of Dragons! Only if I can make Vincent catch them! ^_^  
  
Leo Cole: I WILL fix that error! *writes it down on hand* But if I know myself, I probably will forget it in half an hour... -__-  
  
The Crystal Wyvern: You should also have thanks for the name suggestions. I found yours very helpful. On the matter of R/S Pokes, I won't reveal anything. But I can say one thing: "Ugly duckling". Eh? Eh? There's a brain buster for ya. :)  
  
Lunar Heart: One of my reasons for pausing a bit is to get the ability to go deeper into emotions and thoughts, like you said. And you made some good suggestions about the Pokémon too!  
  
Random Dude and Inferno719: Glad to see you reviewing. You also have my thanks for that. / Yorun 


	14. I Hate Him Already

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game or TV show If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 14: I Hate Him Already  
  
You should know these things before reading my story:  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a person's thoughts  
  
Vincent stormed out of the small house where he had been for almost an hour now. And what an hour it had been! He had won the tournament, yes. But now afterwards, he wished he never even participated. He now was the main person in a real life television show about the everyday life of a Pokémon trainer. HIS everyday life.  
  
He had thought that after the tournament, he would head back for Twin Falls and beat the leader there, finally seeing if that annoying woman could bring him back to were he belonged. But he couldn't do that now! He had to put up with another, probably just as annoying woman sticking a camera in his face every single second of his woken time. And having to shave his armpits just added to his aggravation!  
  
Vincent stomped the short distance of no more than 200 yards back to the rocks that defiantly stood in the sand and hid his backpack from sight. While doing this, his mind was filled with all sorts of profanity that he would love to tell the people inside the house and especially to that Vice President, Devon. His fists clenched and unclenched all the way to the rocks and he felt like having a sparring match with Slate, even though he knew he would lose. But just for the reason to have something to punch and let lose all the aggression he kept inside at the moment.  
  
He calmed down a little when he rounded a large rock and took sight of his backpack. It had a note on it.  
  
"Dear Vincent. Congratulations on the TV show! I'm so happy for you! I'm sorry that I couldn't stay behind and talk to you more but Jak insisted on that we left. When I can, I'll catch you on TV. Here's my Pokégear number. Call me sometime! Hugs / Wendy"  
  
"Congratulations my foot." Vincent said to no one "Why couldn't you win, Wendy? Then I wouldn't be in this mess." He kicked a small stone and grabbed his rather large and worn red and dark green backpack, hung one of the straps over his left shoulder and headed back for the house and that DJ character.  
  
With no difficulty, he could spot her the minute he turned his eyes towards the house. She was darting from bag to bag. Vincent imagined that apparently she was repacking her equipment and personal belongings into a backpack or whatever. And adding to the ease of spotting her was the fact that she was the only woman in the crew team.  
  
It didn't take much time for him to once again stomp the short distance to the house and DJ.  
  
She still thought it was strange that they had assigned only her to do this job. But at the same time, she was kind of glad that Max Devon believed in her. She smiled at the thought as she carefully packed down extra videotapes and light bulbs for the rather large camera. But at the same time she was happy, she was also very nervous and worried. She really had no idea what kind of guy this Vincent Grey was. He could be a seriously demented psycho!  
  
(But he is kinda cute tho...) She had to remind herself not to think of him like that. The fact of the matter was that she had to do her job and not try to pick him up. She also had to slow down with the flirting in general because Devon himself had told her not to flirt with Vincent which could only mean she had gained the reputation of being a very flirtatious girl. A reputation that she didn't want but one that she couldn't deny was kind of true.  
  
"Five minutes" DJ spun around and was met with the piercing gaze of no other than Vincent Grey.  
  
"You've got five minutes. Then I leave. With or without you."  
  
"I don't need much longer." She turned her back at him and continued with her pack while she could hear the soft grind of the sand as Vincent walked a little further away from her.  
  
Vincent went over to the water and let the solemn waves hit his feet and the ragged bottoms of his beige khakis who instantly turned a deeper shade when they came in contact with the water. Although the water was not cold because of the almost tropical climate it still felt cool. Vincent looked out to see and estimated that the sun would be completely down in about two hours.  
  
(Walk for half an hour, make camp, eat. And swim with Kingler of course.) He didn't train his Pokémon so close after a battle. If he didn't give them some slack, they would soon turn against him. His hand drew towards Kingler's Pokéball but decided not to release him until they were at the camp.  
  
He knew that his Pokémon meant the world to him. Not only were they his partners, but he could even call them his friends. Well, some of them. Slate was definitely a friend. The incredibly strong Pokémon was the ace in Vincent's deck and someone that had been with Vincent for the entire two years.  
  
After the break-up with Sara and Wendy, Vincent had caught a Krabby in a river. The very same Krabby that evolved into Vincent's massive Kingler. According to the Pokédex, Kinglers were supposed to be about 4'3" and weigh about 130 pounds. But Vincent's Kingler was a little different. From the ground to the top of its crown-like head, it measured five feet tall and weighed 200 pounds. Not only was the giant crab very loyal, it was also an incredible fighter and an ally that Vincent proudly called his friend. Whenever he had the chance, Vincent took a swim with the crab. Holding onto the crown and being dragged along the seabed was an incredible feeling. Kingler even used to participate in Vincent's private training by acting as bench press-weight.  
  
Those two Pokémon were the base of Vincent's team. In nine out of ten cases, he had those two with him. Slate was no doubt the physical powerhouse and knew many devastating moves and techniques. Kingler was also very strong but not as fast and agile as Slate. But Kingler more than made up for that by being able to use water-type attacks. But Vincent knew that Kingler wasn't the best for those types of attacks. Of course, he wouldn't abandon or stop training the royal crab. He would only find another Pokémon stronger at executing water attacks.  
  
After Kingler, Vincent caught and trained many different types and species of Pokémon, the latest instalment his rather impetuous Scyther.  
  
Standing there and looking out at the horizon, thinking about his Pokémon, an image of his mother flashed into his head. Elina Grey. At times, he really missed her and his own world. He had spent so many sleepless nights just thinking and making up different theories and possibilities about what exactly had happened to him that day two years, two months and two weeks ago to date. Even though it was such a long time ago, Vincent remembered the event like it had happened two seconds ago. He had been cycling home after the graduation of his ninth year in school and after a dispute with Matt. Then a huge tidal wave of light flooded over him and the next thing he knew, he was in this world.  
  
Was the world of Pokémon a parallel universe? Then maybe, just maybe, he had been replaced with the Vincent Grey of this world. Or maybe not. Had his mother wept for him when he didn't come home? He thought so. Had anyone else missed him? The only answer he could think of was 'No'. He never had any friends so no one would miss him except for his mom. His dad, whom no longer was worthy enough to be personalized with a name, left them both the summer that Vincent turned seven so he certainly wouldn't have missed him.  
  
It still made Vincent mad whenever he thought about his father. Unaware of it himself, he clenched his hands into fists and pressed his lips together when he remembered that his mother cried herself to sleep for months after his disappearance. He had never said why, he just left.  
  
"Good to go!" Vincent, who had been broken from his trail of thought, turned around. "And it didn't take more than five minutes either." Seeing DJ made Vincent snicker for a second. The backpack she had strapped on was very big and overly packed so she had to bend forwards not to topple over backwards from the sheer weight of it. To top that, she had two more bags, one on either side of her. They too, filled to the brim. All bags were black and she seemed to be panting just from the short walk from the house over to him.  
  
"Are you going to take all that stuff with you?" He motioned for her bags with a quick nod.  
  
She took a quick glance down at the bags that kept her from putting her arms to her sides. "Well... yeah!"  
  
Vincent nodded "Ah. I see. Let's go." He started walking away and was followed by DJ.  
  
A sore back, shoulders, neck, feet and probably some scratch marks on the inside of her forearms. Those were the pains that DJ would complain about or suffer from when they got to their destination. And by the way he saw it she had two options. To re-pack and thus leaving much of her precious stuff. Or just quit the entire show. Vincent hoped for the later.  
  
They had only walked for no more than twenty minutes before Vincent was already a hundred feet ahead of the struggling DJ.  
  
He stopped and sighed so loud that DJ could almost hear it. (Shit. Guess I have to wait for her then!) It was just like he had predicted. This cameraman/woman just slowed him down. Not that he often was in a rush or anything but it still annoyed him. He could have sworn that if he was in her position, he would at least try to keep up.  
  
While DJ slowly trudged towards him, he released his current team, all at once. But he directed it so that Scyther would materialize at safe swiping distance from the others. Just in case. His normally stern and serious face took on a smile and friendly eyes as he saw his Pokémon. Fearow materialized in the air, already flying while Marowak and Jolteon took form beside each other, Marowak leaning on its bone club and Jolteon sitting. Kingler happily snapped with its claws and Slate stood, so much like Vincent, with his bottom pair of arms crossed.  
  
A high-pitched yelp was heard from down the beach in DJ's direction and caused the seven pairs of eyes to turn their heads and stare at the now running DJ.  
  
"People, that is DJ." He turned his head back to look at the Pokémon. "She will be travelling with us for a long time now. Sadly, it doesn't matter if we want her to or not."  
  
"You... You have a Fearow?!" DJ, who now had reached Vincent, bent over and put her hands on her knees while panting heavily.  
  
"No. "He shook his head at her. "That's just a big potato with feathers, a big beak and, oh yeah, it can fly."  
  
She kept her stare at the big bird. "Don't be smart with me. I know what a Fearow is, what it looks like and how to take care of one." She now stood up and walked towards the big bird "My father had one." She gently raised her hand towards Fearow and stroked its neck feathers. "I used to help him take care of it."  
  
"Sure you did. Lets go." As soon as Vincent moved, his Pokémon followed. Slate and Kingler stayed closest to him.  
  
"Vincent!" DJ jogged the short distance and slowed down beside him. "How much further are we going to walk?" She panted as she said that.  
  
"Oh, not much longer. Maybe an hour. Why? Tired already?" He smiled inwardly.  
  
(It doesn't look like it'll take much work to get rid of her...)  
  
"An hour?! Vincent, I'm beat. My legs are aching, my feet hurt and my neck is killing me! Can't we stop over there for the night?" He looked over to where she pointed.  
  
For the entire time they left the tournament, They had the sea on the left and trees on the right. DJ pointed to a clearing in the trees that formed a semi circle no more than 30 feet in diameter.  
  
Vincent still thought they could press on a little further. But it was her first day on the road and he had to fix her pack.  
  
(She can't walk with those bags tomorrow. If I don't do anything she'll wine and I'll go crazy!)  
  
"Ok, fine." He turned to her again and looked her intensely in the eyes. "But I won't stop because you're tired tomorrow. Got that?"  
  
"Don't you worry about me, little boy. I'll be fine." She started walking and left Vincent to be mad at what she called him.  
  
"Let's go!" His six Pokémon followed close behind.  
  
"Aaah! Finally!" In the middle of the small clearing, DJ dropped her three bags and sat down on the ground to remove her hefty walking boots. The action reminded him of Sara and Wendy on the first day of their journey.  
  
"Guys, you know the drill! Let's fix this fast before food, Ok?" The Pokémon all nodded and set off to do the various things they always did when they stopped for the day. Finding something to sit on, firewood, stones for the fireplace and maybe something edible. Fearow, who was a bit clumsy on the ground and had no hands, usually took off high in the air to scout for other trainers, cities or anything that looked odd. After a quick explanation from Vincent, Scyther got over to the log that Slate carried over and swiftly cut off all the twigs and branches, so he did a part as well.  
  
After the daily routine of making a camp, Vincent gathered his companions and walked out on the beach again. They needed to finish the conversation that DJ interrupted before.  
  
Vincent sat down cross-legged in the sand with his face towards the sea and his back at DJ. He sat like that so she couldn't hear what he was saying.  
  
"Have a seat, guys." Slate sat down just like Vincent, Kingler rested its belly on the sand beside him, Marowak and Jolteon sat down beside Kingler and then came Fearow who just stood because of its inability to sit down. Scyther chose to remain standing to the left of Vincent. He thought it was funny because the Pokémon used to do like this. The oldest to the right and youngest to the left. They created a half circle around Vincent going counter-clockwise from Slate to Scyther.  
  
"You all did a great job today. You too, Scyther." He looked at the big, green bug "You are stronger than I thought so I'll give you heavier weights tomorrow. As I said, you all did a great job. But sadly, that was a tournament I would rather have lost." He scanned the eyes of his Pokémon looking for any emotion.  
  
Looking at Scyther, Fearow and Jolteon, he found that they really didn't understand him. Marowak, Slate and Kingler however showed no signs whatsoever. They all looked composed.  
  
"I won the tournament and the prize I got is that woman up there." He motioned with his head at her. "She is supposed to follow us around for six months and film us every day. Then she'll send that tape to someone and it'll be on TV." He paused and sighed "But I'll try to make her leave as soon as possible. Just so you know what's going on if I act weird."  
  
"Vincent?" He frowned at the sound of her voice. "What?!"  
  
"What are we going to do now? Fight some wild Pokémon? Or find some other trainers and beat them?"  
  
Vincent got up from his seat and started walking towards her "Is that all you think I do? Fight? Whenever I don't walk, I fight? Listen here now, lady." He got up close to her and stared fiercely at her "You do whatever you want. I don't care. And don't ask if I want to do anything with you. Because I don't. The way I see it, this is my last day for six months to do what I want without having a camera in my face. So leave. Me. Alone." He turned his back towards her and went over to his Pokémon and squatted down where he sat a few seconds ago.  
  
"Me and Kingler are going to go swim. Look after DJ up there. Don't let her do anything stupid like setting herself on fire or something, ok?" The Pokémon nodded and walked up to the clearing as Vincent and the huge crab walked down to the sea.  
  
Kingler happily trotted directly into the cool, azure water. It definitely belonged in the water and if it had had lips it would most certainly smile. Vincent however, stopped at the water's edge and let the waves wash over his tired feet. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Let the water undermine his feet and carry the sand below him out to sea. After three or four waves, he opened his eyes and walked into the water, still with ball belt and pants on. When he had water up to his waist, he leaned forward, shot his arms out and dove right into the cool seawater. He had been a little hesitant to swimming in lakes and the sea after Twin Falls. He remembered clearly what the leader had said and as soon as he could, he found the source of the Twin Falls river and marked the entire water flow from source to the tiniest creek in bright red on his map. He would never even touch that water again. At first, he had been a little suspicious about the sea as well but he had never heard anything again so he figured the leader was out of reach.  
  
After the familiar splash of his body breaking the surface, everything went silent. Vincent blew out some of the air in his lungs and slowly drifted down to the bottom. His compact body silently found a resting place on the sandy bottom and the only thing Vincent heard was the slow yet steady pace of his own heart. He hadn't really timed himself but he knew that he could hold his breath for a long time. Longer than the average person anyway, and all thanks to his strict training routines.  
  
He opened his eyes and saw the familiar shape of Kingler further out in the water. The crab was almost completely surrounded in water, save for its crown that broke the surface with an inch or two. Vincent dug his fingers into the rippled bottom and with one mighty pull, he set out for his Kingler. As soon as he felt he was slowing down he started kicking with his legs and doing breaststrokes. It didn't take long for him to reach Kingler and grab hold of the crown-like antennas on its head. As soon as he did that, Kingler started walking along the bottom. They used to do this every time. When the duo went for a swim, Vincent took hold of the crown and was given a ride on the bottom. Vincent had been swimming slowly along the bottom for as long as he could remember but when he caught Krabby he didn't have to spend precious oxygen on swimming. Krabby could just pull him along and therefore; Vincent could be down for a longer time.  
  
In the beginning, Krabby held on to Vincent's legs or arms with its claws but they didn't do that after an incident where Vincent nearly suffocated. So now that Krabby was a Kingler, he could hold on to the big crab and just be dragged along instead of being pulled.  
  
He stuck his head out and filled his lungs with fresh air, closed his eyes and went down under again.  
  
(What a day...) he replayed all the events that hade taken place that day and still wished he never had participated in the tournament. (If I just had taken the day off I wouldn't have this damn woman on my neck and I could be heading for Twin Falls! But nooo! I had to fight and I just had to win!) He wouldn't be able to head for Twin Falls when DJ was with him that was for sure.  
  
He opened his eyes and saw the calm and soothing movements of the sun refract in the water, making its beautiful dance on the bottom. But the serenity didn't last long because he was instantly reminded of his current situation with DJ and that TV show.  
  
(I have to get rid of her! She can't seem to take a hint so I guess I'll just make her want to leave on her own. I'll drive her mad!) The darker side of Vincent liked the idea.  
  
(Be a total asshole. Yeah... that can't be so hard!) He felt uneasy at what he was planning to do. He really didn't like it when people actually hated him. (No! I don't care what she thinks! I don't care what anyone thinks! Can't she just leave me alone?! Dammit!)  
  
Thinking about DJ had made him mad and messed up the good time that he usually had when swimming. He figured it'd be best if he got back up and made food for himself and his Pokémon. Probably for DJ as well. He didn't think she could do anything except sitting on a rock.  
  
He tapped on Kinglers hard armour so that he had the crabs attention, pointed to himself twice and then the way they came. Kingler waved with his right claw to show that he had understood. After seeing that, Vincent started heading back for the beach. They had both agreed on the use of signals because of the lack of speech under water.  
  
When Vincent surfaced it was only a few feet to the beach so he walked the last bit. Seeing his Pokémon and DJ caused him to almost laugh. Almost. All five of his Pokémon stood in a broad circle around DJ, staring at her intensely. All of them looked at her like she was a prisoner and they were the guards. They wouldn't take their eyes off her even for one second. Even Scyther stared but he obviously didn't take it as serious because he leant against a tree and didn't have as much determination and anger in his eyes.  
  
DJ sat on a rock in the middle of the clearing desperately looking at the Pokémon with eyes the size of plates.  
  
(Heh! She's scared.)  
  
"It's ok now guys." Upon hearing Vincent, the Pokémon settled down and when DJ heard him she darted up from the rock, over to him and grabbed his arms.  
  
"Oh, Vincent!" she stared at him obviously struck with fear. "Thank god you're back! You forgot to put your Pokémon back into their balls!" She looked over her shoulder at the Pokémon and back at him again. "I though they were going to kill me!" Vincent felt her tightening her grip on his arms.  
  
He put on the most non-caring face he could muster and said: "You done?"  
  
"Yes..." she said meekly.  
  
"Then let go of me!" She quickly let go of him but remembered that there were Pokémon behind her so she got over to his side.  
  
"Could you please put them away before they attack me?!" she was practically hiding behind him as she said that.  
  
"All of them?"  
  
"Yes!! Especially that one!" She peeked out from behind him and pointed an unsteady finger at Slate, who still glared at her.  
  
"That one?" He pointed to the big pile pf muscle that was the Machamp.  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Ok... If you say so." He took out Slates Pokéball "But look at what I'm doing in case they escape."  
  
She stood up and looked at the minimized Pokéball in his right hand. "See? This is a Pokéball. You can't recall them if it's minimized so you have to enlarge it first, got it?" He did so and was both amused and annoyed at her bewildered reaction because he was just humouring her. "Then you press this button to recall them." He showed her the button very closely and then threw the ball to Slate who caught it with ease.  
  
DJ totally panicked upon seeing that and almost jumped up and down as she screamed: "What are you doing?! Now you can't recall it and it is going to kill us!!"  
  
Vincent didn't say anything but just walked over to Slate who threw the ball up and down but still had a steady gaze set on DJ. Vincent placed himself by Slates side with width between his feet and crossed arms. He kind of resembled a soldier.  
  
"DJ!" His stern face made her calm down a little. "I want you to tell me everything you know and what kind of experience you have with both Pokémon and outdoor survival.  
  
"Well I'll have you know that I pride myself in knowing quite much about both subjects! I happen to know that-" She immediately stopped talking and hopped aside when Kingler came back from the sea and up to Vincent's other side.  
  
"You have no practical experience whatsoever, huh?"  
  
"None other than the one I have with my fathers Fearow..."  
  
"Then I suggest you start walking the way you came." He turned his back at her and went to make a fire. It became totally quiet. After ten seconds, Vincent thought she was actually going to do as he said so he picked up a block of wood.  
  
"What is wrong with you?!" she screamed at him. "Don't you understand what an opportunity this is for you?! You'll become FAMOUS! Do you understand that word, muscle-head? Famous! People will recognize you on the street, you'll be in commercials, in newspapers, everywhere!"  
  
As she had talked, Vincent gradually tightened his grip on the block of wood with both his hands and after her last word he broke the block in half, slammed it to the ground and got right up in her face.  
  
"I know what the word means! YOU are the one who doesn't understand shit! I don't want to be famous! I don't want to be recognized! I don't want to be in newspapers or anywhere else! What I DO want is that you leave me alone!"  
  
"I would love to but this is my job!" she defiantly stared back down into the shorter boys eyes.  
  
"Believe me when I say that this is a job you can't handle."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because you WILL get hurt! You have no idea how to survive out here. And you don't know anything about Pokémon. You probably have no idea how many Pokémon there are that can kill you before you even see them!" DJ's eyes widened a little when he said that. The scary part was that it was true. Many Pokémon were very protective of their environment and their young.  
  
"You can teach me."  
  
"I won't be some damn babysitter." He turned back down to the fire. "If you go now you should be back before the sun is down."  
  
She pulled up the cell phone from her left pocket and walked away to talk in private.  
  
(God I hope she leaves now...)  
  
DJ walked as she dialled the number to the producer.  
  
"Yeahello."  
  
"Sir, it's DJ. We need to talk." She began wandering back and forth. A bad habit when she talked on the phone.  
  
"That's right! Listen, the name of the show is 'A Grey Life'. Not that other name. Got that?"  
  
"..yeah. Sure. But that wasn't what I wanted to talk about! Sir, with all do respect, I really think we should think of another trainer for this show. This kid is rude, arrogant and hard to deal with."  
  
"DJ! I've talked with Devon and that is the kid he wants!" He screamed so loud that she had to hold the phone away from her ear. "You just do your job, ok?!"  
  
"But sir-"  
  
"No buts, no questions, no nothing! Just do your job!"  
  
"...Yes sir."  
  
"And don't flirt with him!"  
  
No need to worry, sir. I hate him already."  
  
A/N:  
  
Well well! Seems like I finished yet another chapter. How fun. Yay for me... This chapter is most likely a disappointment for all of you who might have read it. My reason for believing that is the fact that I've opened it up, written a few lines and then closed it down again, only to do the same thing again a few days later. That causes the story to loose the red line that holds it together only because I have forgotten some of the things I have written previously.  
  
It's actually waaay to early on the day to start explaining my faults and that's the reason it sound like a four year old has written it. Sorry bout that.  
  
Lunar Heart: If you haven't noticed, this chapter is actually four pages longer than the usual six I write. I'll try and make them longer but don't get your hopes up... -_-'  
  
Ravens Destiny: yeah, ego-squishing is enjoyable. And you don't have to clean up the mess afterwards. There is absolutely no need to apologize for not helping with the story. The fact of the matter is that I am the one who is supposed to do all the work. You should just sit back, have a soda, maybe some snacks and just read. And review...  
  
The Crystal Wyvern: I could always use some inspiration! And if you ever do post a Pokémon story, let me know and I'll be there in a heartbeat.  
  
PikaJenn: Then you are officially my Beta-reader! If that's ok with you I mean. Up for it? Thank you for your support.  
  
The Duke of Briarcliffe: It feels good that you enjoy my story. Your reviews mean a lot to me.  
  
Leo Cole: I've fixed it now!  
  
KaiserEXE: Wow... four or five times? I feel honoured that you have done that and the things you say about AGL makes me feel even more so. Thank you! 


	15. Rough Start

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life Chapter 15: Rough Start  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a persons thoughts  
  
DJ slammed her cell phone shut - ending the conversation with the producer of the reality show that she was certain would claim her sanity. It wasn't the subject of the show. Nor was it the hard work of both filming and being the show host.  
  
It was the main character of the show that would make her go mad. Vincent Grey. After only two hours he had already pissed her off and caused her to want to call the whole thing off. She had never been so wrong about a person in her life. At first sight he looked like another potential boyfriend being very cute and having one hell of a body. But she thought he might be a little slow underneath all that muscle. Many guys were like that. Now she thought very differently. She thought he was rude and arrogant. And she still wasn't sure whether or not he was slow but she definitely didn't think he was smart.  
  
She walked back to the rude little prick determined not to let him know how much she wanted to leave. She held her head high and imagined her success when the six months had gone. She had a job and she would do it as damn well se could.  
  
She sat down on the log beside the one Vincent sat on, leaving half of the log-square around the fire to the Pokémon that could use them. Meaning Slate-who had stopped glaring at her-Marowak and Scyther. But to DJ-who was inexperienced with Pokémon besides Fearow, they were 'the big one', 'the short one with the bone' and 'the green one with bigass claws'.  
  
"Come to say goodbye?" Vincent started to give out bowls of food to all of the Pokémon.  
  
"No." She said very shortly. "I'll stay and do this job until the end. I just called to see if there were any changes."  
  
(Damn she's stubborn. But so am I! We'll see who breaks first!) Don't challenge guys like Vincent to anything. They'll do whatever they can to win.  
  
"They have changed the name of the show after your last name. It's called 'A Grey Life' now."  
  
(Then I'll make it more gray than they can imagine... It'll go to history as the most boring TV show the world has ever seen. Then they'll tear up that contract.) Vincent thought as he stared into his food.  
  
"Is there enough for me as well?"  
  
Vincent extended his hand and gruffed "Bowl" which sent DJ over to her bag and came back with a green camping-plate kit. Never used because it still had the pricetag on and it was covered in plastic.  
  
Vincent was handed a plate that he quickly slapped some 'food' on and gave back to DJ.  
  
"What is this?!" She held the plate with both hands and blankly stared at whatever was on it was called.  
  
Vincent swallowed what he had in his mouth and answered while he was readying another spoonful. "Food."  
  
DJ sniffed at it and scrunched her face. "The HELL it is!"  
  
Vincent set down his spoon with a loud 'clank' and looked at DJ. "Look now, woman. That's oatmeal with extra protein powder. It isn't alive or anything and it wont bite you. So either be quiet and eat or make your own food." He went back to loudly stuffing his face with the oatmeal.  
  
She poked the gel-like glob around a little before tipping the food back into the pot where Vincent took it from. "I need to loose some weight anyway..." she said only to explain herself to Vincent's glares.  
  
Vincent extended his entire arm at her bags "Get your things. Now."  
  
With lack of anything better to do and not wanting to fight with Vincent again, she got the three heavy bags and placed them with a loud 'thud' between her own and Vincent's log. He grabbed the one closest to him - her backpack - opened all the zippers and turned it upside down, dumping everything on the ground. He then sat down and threw some things over his shoulder.  
  
"What are you doing?!"  
  
When he didn't say anything, she stood up and went to get the things he had thrown behind him. Vincent saw this and before she could react he had stood up, picked her up like a bag of paper, hung her over his right shoulder and promptly sat her back down on the log.  
  
"Sit!" DJ was far too surprised and shocked to do anything but sit and stare at him with her mouth slightly open. Vincent went back to her things.  
  
"Close your mouth. You are attracting flies."  
  
She snapped out of it. What the hell do you think you're doing?! Answer me!"  
  
"I'm helping you woman! If you walk around with this much shit you are going to end up with a busted back and a bad neck! ...besides, you look really stupid lugging around three obviously too heavy bags." As he said that, he picked up a pink thong and looked at it cluelessly.  
  
DJ immediately raced over and grabbed it, saying "Then at least let me keep the things most important!"  
  
"Ok." He looked up at her from where he was seated and pointed to the thong in her hand "That important?"  
  
"Argh! Let ME do it! Go away!" And so he did. With a large smirk.  
  
"Just so you know, you need to dump at least half of your shit to even stand a chance of keeping up with me tomorrow." Vincent said, walking away towards his bag  
  
"Half of my things?! I can't do that! I'll need this stuff!"  
  
"Of course you will... Everyone needs two different frying pans when you're going to walk most of the day in places where there are no ovens!"  
  
"Yeah... one regular and a wok..."  
  
"And you will definitely need three cans of bugspray?"  
  
"Well there ARE bugs here!"  
  
Vincent sighed "You do whatever the hell you want. But if I were you I would lose one of the sidebags. Both actually."  
  
As much as she didn't want to admit it, he was probably right. It had been difficult to walk with all the things she had. She would repack and try to get rid of one bag. The other held her camera. So she started to repack her things into the big backpack again. This time she left some of the more unimportant things only to be replaced with tapes or whatever had been in the sidebag. She left her sleeping bag and pillow outside because when she was done it was nearly dark and she felt the drowsiness descend upon her.  
  
She turned around and saw Vincent standing on his hands with his feet against the trunk of a tree, doing slow pushups. The exercise seemed to be very strenuous because of the effort Vincent appeared to put in. She noticed that he no longer had hair in his armpits.  
  
"You shaved." Vincent just grunted in response and continued with his exercise.  
  
She crossed her arms and leaned her weight on her right leg. "I think you should know what is supposed to happen yesterday."  
  
Vincent stopped on his way down "I don't really care what is supposed to happen yesterday but if you feel like it means a lot to you, go for it. I can't guarantee I will listen though."  
  
She took a few deep breaths only to keep herself from kicking him in the head. "I'll start filming as soon as we start walking and I, as the show host, will talk to you and ask you some questions that you, according to contract, are obliged to answer in the best way possible."  
  
Vincent quickened his pace and did five more pushups. On the last one, he pushed as hard as he could, went up in the air a bit and landed on his feet. He turned around and walked for his backpack, not looking at her. "Sure. Whatever you say, woman."  
  
She clenched her fists and stomped her foot down. "Stop calling me woman! It's not nice! Either Diane or DJ!"  
  
Vincent pulled put his sleeping bag and unrolled it. "I don't want to talk to you anymore than I have to. Go to sleep." He took off his torn beige pants and noticed DJ staring at his... midsection. "What?! You never seen a pair of boxers before?"  
  
"Sure I have. Just not a pair that I reckon would fall apart if you even look at them!" Sure, his blue sport boxers had some holes and had been efficiently used... scratch that. VERY efficiently used.  
  
"Mind your own business!" he got in his sleeping bag, back down and his arms behind his head staring at the sky.  
  
"Turn over."  
  
"What?" he said, turning his head to the left, looking at her.  
  
"Turn over! I don't want to undress so that you can see it!"  
  
"I have no interest in seeing you undress! Besides, it's almost dark."  
  
"Turn over!" she raised her voice that time.  
  
"Ok fine..." he turned his back towards her and heard the frantic pulling of clothes and her sleeping bag.  
  
"Are you done yet?!"  
  
"Yes. Aren't you supposed to put away your Pokémon before going to sleep?"  
  
"Do you want me to?"  
  
"Yes... They might attack me in my sleep!" her voice was weak and Vincent, who still had his back towards her, could hear that she pulled the sleeping bag closer around her.  
  
(Weakling woman...)  
  
"Then they stay out." It didn't matter what she said. He would just try to annoy and irritate her as much as he could. He had done that the entire evening after he got back from the swim with Kingler.  
  
"But I might get killed in my sleep!"  
  
"No you won't! They are all very loyal and they wouldn't hurt you unless I told them to!" he paused a little for effect. "Except Scyther. He might do something. Now be quiet! I'm trying to sleep."  
  
And so the night went on and made way for a new day. Some slept and some did not. You are all intelligent people so I'll let you guess who slept and who did not... The new day that dawned was not cloudfree with a large sun in the middle of the sky. No, the sky was filled with black clouds emptying water at the land below. Much to a certain camerawomans frustration. And that frustration came out verbally. And it came out very often. Much to a certain trainers frustration.  
  
"YES! I have noticed that it rains!" He turned around again, away from DJ and her big camera. "Deal with it. I do."  
  
"There you have it people. He said it himself. Whatever mother nature throws at him, he deals with it. Rain, hail the size of tennis balls, blizzards, incredible heat. It doesn't matter. He is a Pokémon trainer. He deals with it."  
  
Vincent just rolled his eyes and balled his hands into fists. It sounded so stupid that she was talking like that. And it felt really weird having that bigass camera aimed at him all the time. He had woken up with it one foot from his face. He surely wasn't used to that so he was just a moment from punching it in self-defence. Then he realized what it was. And his urge to punch it grew larger.  
  
Rain had started to fall moments after he had thrown his bag on his back that morning. He didn't mind it. It suited perfectly to the way he felt. And he didn't exactly become happier when DJ started to introduce him and asking him annoying questions like how long he had trained Pokémon, how long he had been on his own and all that other stuff so that people knew more about him. He thought it was both unnecessary and a little unnerving that many people who he had never seen would know things about him that only he had known before.  
  
"So Vincent? She got up to his left side and filmed his profile. "Where are we headed today?"  
  
"We are going to a town called Afollville. It's not far from here. Only about 13 miles." AN: Afoll is pronounced Ei-Fall  
  
"And what are you going to do in Afollville? Challenge a Gym leader perhaps?"  
  
Vincent just stared ahead, trying to ignore the camera as best as he could. "No. Afollville is a small town so it doesn't have a Gym."  
  
"Then what are you going to do there?" She circled around so that she was directly in front of him, making him stop walking.  
  
Vincent let out a sigh of frustration "If you must know, I am going to heal my Pokémon and exchange them for some of my other ones." He walked around her and watched as a bolt of lightning fell from the sky followed immediately with the roll of thunder.  
  
(We are directly under the bad weather...) He looked at the nearby trees to see from where the wind blew. (The wind is blowing to our backs. That means we are walking with the rain. Not against it. Good. Then it'll rain on us as much as possible and if I am lucky, the camera will break.) A sly smile spread across his face.  
  
The rain started to fall even harder, making his hair stuck to his forehead. He looked back at DJ who pulled what looked like to be a see- through raincoat out of her lonely sidebag.  
  
"It's no use. You'll get wet anyway!" he screamed over the heavy rain.  
  
"It's not for me." She lifted the camera off her shoulder and started to dress it in the covering plastic.  
  
(Damn it! I have to be the unluckiest person in the world!) He started to walk away from her. He wished he never had met her. Or that he had never won that stupid fucking price anyway. It made him so mad he clenched both his lips and hands and just wanted to get as far away from her as possible.  
  
"Vincent! Wait!" He heard her. But he didn't want to listen. He just focused on the sickening sound of his feet walking through mud and the occasional thunderclap. Damn woman. Having to come and mess up his life when he might have been able to finally go home.  
  
He would walk on the narrow path as far as he could go. He would walk until she was so tired she couldn't possibly move no longer. Then he would continue walking just to make sure she would never find him again.  
  
But Vincent suddenly stopped. He wasn't on a narrow path anymore. The path had evolved into a circular opening in the middle of the forest. About fifteen feet across with no exit. Vincent's eyes, that a few seconds ago had been glaring, were now wide open and frantically looking around to maybe verify what he was thinking. He looked back at the path from which he came and just now noticed that it had a constant line of grass in the middle. Like a very small vehicle had driven there. There was no or very little grass were Vincent stood and the trees standing closest to the clearing were either dead or on the ground, broken by the lower part of the stem.  
  
"Vincent! You can't do that! You have to wait for me to be able to film you!" DJ came jogging from the path and stopped at the entrance at the clearing.  
  
He didn't turn around "Be quiet woman!" Instead, he looked down on the ground. And what he saw caused his eyes to widen and his heart to pound like a sledgehammer. He was standing on numerous footprints the size of his hand with two noticeably short but very thick claws at the front. His heart was in is throat when he saw there was at least one pair of footprints the size of his head. On these, the claws were much bigger.  
  
"Dammit Vincent! Stop calling me woman! It's really degrading! And just so you know, I am turning on the came-" She could not continue shouting because Vincent had his hand on her mouth. Normally she would have resisted but she didn't this time. The short time she had been with Vincent, his eyes had either shown annoyance, irritation or white-hot anger. What she saw now was something she had never expected to see in him.  
  
Fear.  
  
"I'll call you whatever you want as long as you stay quiet."  
  
At first she just thought it was another thunderclap. It was when the ground started to rumble that she realized it was something else.  
  
Vincent felt it as well and quickly turned around.  
  
"We have to run!" DJ said as she turned around, camera rolling.  
  
"We won't get far!" and with a swift motion, he had gathered up his six capture balls from his belt and tossed them. The six flashes illuminated the dark area as the six fighters took their respective form. Both Vincent and DJ watched as the forest was brutally tossed aside in front of them. Beside of the rumble of the thing coming at them, they could hear and see trees and branches snapping like mere twigs. They saw there was something coming at them. Something fast. Something big.  
  
"Get ready!" the Pokémon were just as observant and got in their battle positions to brace themselves from whatever came out of that forest. The rumble increased along the violent shakings of the ground as the thing got closer. Vincent looked down on one dry spot beneath a tree and could see pebbles jumping up and down more violently with each passing second.  
  
(This is bad...)  
  
And with a mighty roar, the last tree was pulled from the ground by its roots and made way for three gray, heavily armoured Pokémon charging madly into the clearing where DJ, Vincent and the Pokémon were. The Rhyhorns didn't even stop charging, only took sight and lowered their horns at the three Pokémon in the center. Slate, Fearow and Jolteon.  
  
(Shit! They have no chance!)  
  
"Get out of the way!" He had seen Rhyhorns in battle before and he knew that once they had gained speed, it was nearly impossible for something to stop them. Sure, maybe some of the heavier Pokémon stood a chance like Golem or Snorlax. But Vincent's current Pokémon were far too light to be able to stop the Rhyhorns in their tracks.  
  
But he said it too late. Jolteon was tossed aside like a rag doll by the one on the left and was flung straight over its massive head only to land in the mud a few feet back, knocked out cold. Fearow managed to take flight just as the one in the middle charged it and Slate managed to give the one on the right a kick punch with both his left arms before attempting to sidestep. But the Rhyhorn rammed into his leg and caused him to slam into the muddy ground face first.  
  
Now that the Pokémon were out of the way, they took sight of Vincent and a few steps behind him, DJ.  
  
(Dammit!) Right after Slate had fallen to the ground, everything went in slow motion for him. He turned around and grabbed DJ by the shoulders, lifted her up a bit over the ground and threw her to the side as far and hard as he could. She landed in the mud and skidded a bit and hit her back hard against a tree. Amazingly enough she still held the camera out of harms way and still rolling. Vincent couldn't help but notice that she really was very professional. But he definitely didn't have time to think about her anymore. He had three Rhyhorns charging at him very fast with intent to either knock him down and run him over or throw him to the side. Either way, he had to get out of there.  
  
The Rhyhorn in the middle took aim on him and ran even faster, breaking free from the other two. When it was a few feet away from Vincent, he had just thrown DJ to the side and was turning around like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Acting on pure reflexes, Vincent jumped in the air and dove for the ground behind the Rhyhorn. When the Rhyhorn reached the place where Vincent had just jumped from, it thrust its head up in the air like it did on Jolteon. But instead of flinging him up in the air, it rammed its horn into Vincent's right foot.  
  
As he went through the air, pain jolted from his foot into his entire body, spreading with the speed of lightning. He landed on the slippery ground with hands first, rolling over and quickly clutching his wounded foot as he gained balance again.  
  
DJ was positioned against the tree Vincent threw her at and filmed the entire scene. She held the camera steady like she was used to. In it, she saw Vincent holding his foot with a very strained expression on his face. He took his hand from it and looked at it for a few seconds. During these seconds, she saw and filmed the Rhyhorns who had abruptly stopped and turned around, readying for another charge. She turned the camera back against Vincent. After looking at his hand, he pressed his lips together and glared at the heavily breathing Rhyhorns.  
  
He then extended his arm, hand bloody, at them. "Get em!!" Instantly the Pokémon, save for Jolteon, charged the Rhyhorns who were still not moving. Slate took the lead, fists clenched and pissed for having his face in the mud earlier, he unleashed a flurry of punches against the middle Rhyhorn while Kingler took the one on the left and Marowak and Scyther took the one on the right. Fearow couldn't really do much but it was trying by flying over them and pecking at their backs with little effect.  
  
"Will you stop filming and get over here?!" DJ turned the camera from the ongoing battle to Vincent who had gotten up on his good foot and was trying to keep as much weight off the other as possible. She got up from the ground and jogged over to Vincent, away from the battle. On the way over, she first walked backwards and filmed the battle. But when she turned around to film Vincent, her face went pale.  
  
Vincent, who still was pissed because of his hurting foot, looked at DJ who wasn't looking into the camera for once. Instead she was looking past him and up at something.  
  
Vincent followed her eyes and turned around only to see a gray, plated belly. He looked up at a broad, dark head with two blazing eyes staring him down. The horn on its head was long, thick and patterned a little like an electric drill. The huge Rhydon reared its large head back and emitted a high pitched, challenging roar from deep within that would most certainly have set the bravest men on their way home to mommy.  
  
Incredibly fast for something so big, the Rhydon whammed its left arm into Vincent, sending him flying a good five feet into a thick tree with his back first. The blow had done more than just knocked the wind out of him. When the Rhydon hit him, he could feel at least three of his ribs breaking and the hard impact on the tree dazed him. He fell to the ground, coughing and spitting out a little blood trying desperately trying to force air into his lungs.  
  
He clutched his side and cringed whenever he gasped for air because of the overwhelming pain he felt both from the very new blow to his ribs and the renewing pain when mud and rainwater touched the wound on his foot. The blood he spat up quickly dissolved in the rainwater and mud that Vincent was laying in. It was now he realized that they might really be in trouble. Three Rhyhorns. One Rhydon. Five Pokémon left to protect them. Three that was able to do any noticeable damage. Scyther couldn't do much to the Rhyhorns thick armour and Fearows desperate pecks still had no effect.  
  
"Help me!" And one completely defenceless camerawoman up against a Rhydon. Yes, they might be in trouble.  
  
Vincent pushed himself off the ground, ignoring the pain, and stood up.  
  
The Rhydon was advancing on DJ who still had the camera rolling on her shoulder whilst she backed away from the huge creature. It raised its arm over its head, ready to deliver a blow straight down on her. She quickly closed her eyes and got ready for it.  
  
"AAARGH!" With a mighty cry from the top of his lungs, Vincent threw himself in between DJ and the Rhydon, punching it with all he could straight to the jaw, forcing its head to the side. However, his blow had little effect except confusing it for a second. Instead of hitting DJ, the Rhyhorn now slammed its arm into Vincent's other side, breaking more of his ribs. He slid a few feet and came to a stop lying on his side, head down in the dirt. He heard and felt the heavy footsteps of the Rhydon walking up to him, aiming for him instead of DJ.  
  
"Heh heh..." He coughed up some blood that trickled down his cheek. "You are in so much trouble now." His voice was raspy and his foot, his ribs and now his right hand hurt like hell. But he still managed a sly smirk against the large Pokémon. A second later, a pair of powerful hands gripped around the Rhydons thick neck, lifting it up. Vincent heard Slates other two arms delivering blow after blow on the Rhydon, ending the abuse and revenge with swinging it around and throwing it straight into the woods, forcing it to break several trees before coming to a halt, completely knocked out.  
  
His world became darker and darker. Not feeling the cool rain hitting him, washing away the mud. Neither did he feel any more pain. He just felt very tired. So he closed his eyes and let the darkness overcome him.  
  
A/N:  
  
I do not know why but I am actually kind of proud over this chapter. It might be that I am so pleased with myself only because I figured out that whole even with the Rhyhorns and Rhydon. Hey, wack me over the head if you think I am wrong but let me be happy over the little things! Anyway, I have figured out the storyline for most of the chapters now and all I need I the determination and the ability to write them in the best way possible. We'll see how that goes. People, I know I have been making excuse over excuse as to why I am not pumping out chapters faster. Here's another one. A very true one at that: I am a seventeen year old guy. A guy who earned money last year and got used to having it. But money is not forever. I learned that the hard way. So I am working at a theme park at the moment to earn money for clothes, sweets, parties, liquor, you get the picture. And to add to the misery, I train a couple times a week with both shooting and strength. Most of the time, I put my training ahead of my writing. Those reasons hinder me from writing as much as I want to.  
  
That, and I am a lazy bastard who could use a slap in the face.  
  
The Duke Of Briarcliffe: There never were any hateful mails from me and probably never will be. So don't worry about that.  
  
Inferno719: Like I said in the mail I sent you, I had already thought about and decided to use that scenario. I like the way you think, Inferno.  
  
Lunar Heart: Thank you for your reviews. They make me feel happy and...giddy? No. Not giddy. That sounds like something a little girl would feel. I'll leave it at happy.  
  
KaiserEXE: 'Pure genius?' That was a new one. ^^ But thank you. It really means a lot. Hey, give me your e-mail and I will send you a mail whenever a new chapter is posted, ok?  
  
Duo: Thank you for the help with the title. I was in a total meltdown...  
  
Now people, review and tell me what you thought! ^^  
  
Yorun out. 


	16. Nightmares

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 16: Nightmares  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
" " people speaking  
  
( ) a persons thoughts  
  
Imagine yourself floating. Floating weightlessly in a pitch black sea having no idea how far under you are or which way is up, down, left or right. All you know is that you are not alone. You can't see anything through the murky water but you still know that there is something there with you.  
  
Creatures that can see you. Looking at you like a pack of hungry wolves. Eyes staring at you with malice so intense that you can almost feel their hungry eyes on your body, planning when to make a move. But no matter how much you want to swim to whatever way you think the surface is, you can't. Your body doesn't do what you want it to. If you move even an inch, the creatures will come after you. You can do nothing to get away. You aren't in control anymore. Your life is in someone else's hands.  
  
And the worst part is that you don't trust those hands.  
  
Not exactly a pleasant feeling is it?  
  
For Vincent, that would have been a very pleasant dream.  
  
Vincent had no sense of time in his current state. It felt like he had been dreaming for hours, days even. But for all he knew he could have been dreaming for minutes. He dreamt one horrible thing after another, forgetting them as they went by.  
  
He relived every excruciating moment in school. Pickings for soccer games. He was always picked last and how he just stood there, short in stature and sad in face.  
  
"You."  
  
"You."  
  
"You. Then your team gets Vincent."  
  
"You take him!" Matt, the little bastard. If Vincent only had been stronger back then...  
  
Or how he was picked on. How he never had any friends. How he ran home and wept. How he got in fights. How he lost them.  
  
He relived nine years of nothing but pain. All he felt was anger towards the people for doing that to him. Making him a complete and utter outcast. And making him despise every little weakness possible in both himself and any other person. The first thing he took care of was his own physical weakness.  
  
But his worst dream had nothing to do with his former class members.  
  
He found himself standing outside of their house as he remembered it in his world. Everything was dead silent. Not even the wind blew as he slowly walked up to the door and pulled the handle, opening it. Walking in, not hearing his mother calling for him he announced he was home in his usual 'not interested' tone. When she didn't reply, he walked up the stair, hearing one single thing louder and louder for every step he took.  
  
Drip.  
  
Drip.  
  
Drip.  
  
Blood. Guts. His mothers face frozen in pain and fear.  
  
He didn't even shed a tear.  
  
And then it ended.  
  
The little piece of his mind that wasn't dreaming tried desperately to convince him that they all were nothing but dreams. But it was so hard to just discard the horrible scenes as dreams. Why did anyone dream like that? Only things that hurt. Why did anyone only dream the bad things? He didn't believe it was only dreams. It had to be for some reason he was seeing it all. Oh, how he wanted to just give up. Just admit that he didn't want to see anymore. Admit that it was too much for him to handle.  
  
"Deal with it. I do."  
  
Every time he wanted to curl up in a little ball and just let it all out, those words came into his head. His own voice, speaking with such intensity and fire that he got reminded of who he was. He was Vincent Grey! He wouldn't give up!  
  
After having seen his mother was no more, he saw himself sitting with his back against the trunk of a tree. He had on a pair of gray pants and on his wrists and feet were the weightbands he had invented himself. His legs were crossed, as were his arms. He was unshaved, dirty and had messy hair. His eyes stared straight ahead seemingly lifeless never blinking as he rocked back and forth against the tree. Then all of a sudden, he turned his head ninety degrees to the left and was perfectly still. He had heard something. People. People were coming his way. He sprung from his seated position, grabbed his backpack and ran off into the woods, out of sight.  
  
And only because he didn't want to meet anyone. Or anyone to meet him.  
  
"I stand alone!"  
  
All his life he had believed in the power of one. That if you are alone, you are strong. You don't need people. Depending on people makes you weak. And if you are weak, you will get hurt one way or another.  
  
But was that image really the power of one? One that runs from people just so that he doesn't have to interact with them? No, that was that of a mad man who had spent too much time on his own and had started to fear people.  
  
Fear. If you have it, then you are not strong at all.  
  
"Underneath that macho shell of yours, you are much more vulnerable than you want to believe."  
  
Wendy's words echoed within him like spoken straight from the heavens and even though he was not conscious, his heart sank as he began to realize that she really was right.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
In a hospital room somewhere on the coast of Kanto, a rather short girl with a blonde ponytail awoke only to find that she had fallen asleep sitting in a chair, leaning over on a hospital bed.  
  
She looked around the sterile room and saw that the television set mounted on the wall in front of the bed was still on and had woken her up.  
  
"Think you've got what it takes to be a Pokémon trainer?" The deep voice on the TV said  
  
"Think it's all a walk in the park? That it is easy to be a good Pokémon trainer?" the voice escalated, sounding more and more enraged as he talked on.  
  
"It's not!" Right after he had said that, four pictures of Vincent's face came onto the screen. Left profile, front, right profile and then a full body shot of him. All at the sound of a single drumbeat per picture. "BAM BAM BAM BAM"  
  
"Vincent Grey." He paused a little for effect "Might be the toughest trainer in the world because of his incredible strength, unbeatable fighting strategies and powerful Pokémon."  
  
"Welcome to..." The camera dove into Vincent's right eye before becoming totally black.  
  
"A Grey Life!" The three words appeared on screen and the show was on, showing Vincent in his sleeping bag.  
  
(not another rerun...) Every day since Vincent's injury, they had aired the first episode of 'A Grey Life' due to the inability to show new episodes. Apparently, the world was fascinated and in awe over the fact that they had seen a Pokémon trainer be maimed and hospitalised in the very first episode of the new reality show.  
  
The newspapers were following him like wolves, analysing the scene of which he had been injured. Was he just stupid, with a deathwish or was he just very courageous? Could it have been staged just to get people's interest? Or could he be in love with the camerawoman?  
  
The rumours were spreading like wildfire and it was hard to walk the town without hearing anything about either Vincent or the show itself, much to the satisfaction of the people in charge of it.  
  
To sum it all up: the show was a hit.  
  
She had heard of it when she plopped down in a chair that seemed incredibly comfortable because of her tired legs and flipped on her television set. The first thing she saw was Vincent in the small clearing with all his Pokémon out. She couldn't believe that it really was him standing there in the rain. She was convinced that she was dreaming when in the next minutes, he was abused over and over again by the large Pokémon. As soon as the show had ended she threw herself over the phone and found out where he was.  
  
When she thought of it like that, she really didn't know why she had come at all. She hadn't seen him in a very long time and she wouldn't be surprised if he had forgotten about her. But still, she wanted to be there. To see if he was going to be ok. If there was anything she could do to help.  
  
But still, one question remained. Why did she even care? She didn't know.  
  
But she did know one thing. She couldn't stay any longer. She had already put up her duties too long. So she found a piece of paper, a pen and wrote him a letter to when he woke up.  
  
(If he wakes up at all...) It was hard not to let that little thought slip into your head. But she really couldn't imagine someone as strong as Vincent not recovering. During her life, she had never met anyone quite like him. Sure, in her job she had met many buff looking guys with an attitude that reminded her of him but they were all just actors. None really was as strong in mind and will as Vincent was. Thinking like that really reminded her of how much she thought of him.  
  
'Dear Vincent.'  
  
'I have to say it's good to see you again and still... it's not. The last time I saw you ended with me crying for hours and you couldn't care less. Sure, you didn't know I cried but I doubt you would care if you had seen it. That part of me would like nothing else than to forget you ever existed. And then there is another part of me... The part that makes butterflies swirl inside of me when I think of you. The part that just wants to hold you forever. It was so long since we parted and I want you to know that you've been in my thoughts every single day.'  
  
She put down her pen and read over what she had written. She really hadn't thought of it, just written exactly what she wanted him to know. She took a deep breath and crumbled up the paper into a ball.  
  
'Vincent Grey'  
  
'I have been here for three days now and you show no signs of waking up. If I could, I would stay longer but I have things to do. I don't know if you remember me or not but if you want to hear what I have to say, you should go to Hoenn. I won't be too hard to find.'  
  
'Just take the challenge.'  
  
She folded the paper in half and put in on the small table next to his bed. He looked so different when he wasn't awake. So peaceful... she wanted to kiss him on the forehead but decided not to. Instead she left him.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
White. Such a wonderful colour really. White like a beautifully shaped cloud on a summer day. Or white like snow, weighing down the branches of a tree. Or white like a bowl of rice in front of a hungry child. When Vincent opened his eyes white was not beautiful. Or wonderful for that matter. For the last two years, he had woken up to dew clinging to his body, sending shivers down his spine. The first thing he saw every time he opened his eyes had been green grass, trees and sometimes the ocean.  
  
Waking up laying down on a hard bed, frazzling paper underneath him and clothes certain not his while staring at a blinding white ceiling was not something he expected. He had a hard time focusing his eyes so he blinked a couple of times and slowly came to realize that he couldn't hear anything. He noticed that only because his sense of smell came back to him like a brick to the head. Describing what he smelled was hard but it felt like a mix of drugs, old people and dust. The smell stuck in his nostrils and he feared that he would have the odour in his nose for the rest of his life.  
  
Even though he stared at a flat surface it felt like he was spinning. He became nauseous and tried desperately not to throw up. He lifted his head to look around and saw what had to be the international hospital design. A nurse stood at the end of his bed and looked at some records when she noticed that he looked at her. She immediately looked around her to see if anyone was there and when there wasn't, she prepared a syringe and stuck in his IV while looking into his glossy eyes.  
  
"no..." he tried to reach out to her and tell her that he would rather puke out his innards than go back to sleep and see more nightmares. But he was too weak and nauseous to even lift his arm more than a couple of inches. Just seconds after she had injected the shot, the room began to spin and the urge to throw up was the last thing he remembered before his eyelids closed once more.  
  
When the drugs hit his system, he was sent back into the oblivion of his own mind. More nightmares... he was just so tired of seeing them.  
  
This time he was lying on his back with nothing on his upper body. The dream was much more vague than all the others so it was very hard to make out any details. All he knew was that he was on his back and had no shirt on. Where he was, he did not know. It could very well have been outside in the winter because all of a sudden, he became incredibly cold. After just a few seconds, he had a hard time feeling his hands and feet. When he raised his hands to his mouth to blow some hot air on them, he became surprised that he barely could bend his fingers around each other...  
  
He was losing heat and he was losing it fast. This was like nothing else he had been through before. Sure, he had slept out in snow and hard weather but that felt like a summer day compared to this. He didn't even feel that he was cold anymore. He just knew it became harder and harder to move. Part of him knew it was a dream but another part of him couldn't ignore the bitter fact that he really was extremely cold. His now deeply rooted survival instincts told him that if he didn't do something, he would be in big trouble. So he pulled his knees as high up as he could to his chest, lowered his head and wrapped his arms around his legs.  
  
What else could he do? He couldn't very well get up and run around. Heck, if he did, he wouldn't be surprised if his legs would break like ice. It just got colder and colder with each second that passed. He really didn't know what to do. He couldn't take shelter anywhere because after all, it was just a dream. A very vivid dream but still a dream... That was what Vincent was telling himself the entire time. Soon, it felt like his mind was lagging behind just like his body.  
  
It is said that if you die in a dream, you die in real life as well. Was that really true? Well, Vincent was going to find out soon enough...  
  
But then, without warning, Vincent felt something. Waves of heat coming closer and closer to his chest. The heat intensified for a split second before he could feel the tips of four fingers rest on his chest above his heart one after the other and finally an entire palm. It didn't feel like a hand that belonged to someone. Somehow he couldn't feel someone else's skin against his. It just felt like someone in the way that it felt warm in a pattern that could only be from a hand.  
  
He could feel his cold heart being surrounded by heat and then beating faster and faster, pumping warm, lifegiving blood into his stiff veins. His body shot out from the curled up position and it was almost painful how his back arched back like a whip. Every single muscle in his body was heated up in the matter of seconds. He breathed heavily as his body came back under control.  
  
He didn't feel cold anymore. It was like there never had been any cold at all.  
  
The warm hand left his chest and Vincent felt himself being embraced by a pair of warm, soft and gentle arms. His entire being was filled with affection at the loving embrace. His nose filled with a sweet, alluring scent that he recognized from somewhere before. Even though he had trouble giving the fragrance a name and a person to identify it with, he became glad.  
  
He lifted his arms up to return the hug he was getting but the moment he raised them, it felt like the heat intensified. Much like a person tensing. The comforting warmth quickly became offensive and the heat grew sharp spikes burning their way into his body, forcing him to let go. The arms that held him pushed him away in a disgusted manner and thrusted a blazing hand into his chest to where his heart was. The sharp hand grabbed hold of his heart and squeezed and burned it to the point where Vincent couldn't even scream the pain he felt. Then, after just a few seconds, the heat disappeared completely.  
  
No part of his body had any burns. Not even his chest where the hand had so brutally entered. The warm body was long gone and Vincent was left to the mercy of the extremely cold weather alone. But he didn't care. He just lay there on his side, staring straight ahead. He didn't feel the cold, Or the imaginary burns. He just felt an excruciating pain in his heart. It wasn't a physical pain but it was like his blood had been poisoned for every beat of his heart, pain lashed through it.  
  
Sorrow, betrayal, despair.  
  
Sadness overcame him.  
  
What had he done to deserve this? Who had he hurt so badly that he needed to endure this abuse?  
  
He couldn't take it anymore. It was too much. He had dreamt for so long and held on to whatever he could through every horrible dream after the other. But he couldn't do it anymore.  
  
A lonely tear rolled down his cheek, freezing to ice on the way.  
  
For the first time in ten years, Vincent Grey let himself go and cried.  
  
A/N: sWell... I have nothing else to say except that this might be a little... confusing if nothing else. No need to worry, I will explain it all in the next chappie, k? Review will ya! ^^ / Yorun 


	17. Realisations

I do not own Pokémon. But I do own Vincent, and all the other characters that doesn't appear in the game If you want to use Vincent or any of the other characters, you have got to have my permission  
  
A Grey life  
  
Chapter 17: Realisations  
  
You should know these things before reading my story  
  
"" people speaking  
  
( ) a persons thoughts  
  
He was once again back in the dark sea that he hated so much. The creatures were still there, watching him and the water was still as dense as before. The only thing that had changed was that this time he didn't fight to keep his emotions in check. He actually didn't care whether or not the creatures where there, if they could see him and what they planned to do to him. He didn't care about anything. He didn't care if he trained or not. He didn't care about his Pokémon. He didn't care about trying to get home. Someone could have jumped him with fists flying and he wouldn't have done anything to fight back. He could have died right there and he wouldn't care.  
  
Just when his thoughts were at the darkest, his heart started beating faster and faster and he could feel his body being lifted upwards, seemingly pushed by the escalating beat of his heart. He didn't know why his heart had started beating faster all of a sudden. But he didn't think about it. It didn't matter to him. He just let himself float higher and higher.  
  
so cold...  
  
all alone  
  
"Vincent?" a distant voice called his name, echoing in the ocean.  
  
why am I alone?  
  
what have I done?  
  
"Vincent can you hear me?" a flashlight shone in his eyes  
  
I have to know.  
  
what I did wrong.  
  
"Double the dosage." Vincent barely felt the syringe pierce his skin but the voices came closer towards him and he moved faster through the murky waters.  
  
She has to know.  
  
that I didn't want to hurt her. He was just a few feet away from the surface now.  
  
"Vincent, are you there?"  
  
I have to tell her. He broke through the surface.  
  
"Vincent?!"  
  
"...hm?" he could barely hear his own voice.  
  
A brown-haired woman came into his view and once again shone with the flashlight in his eyes.  
  
After a second, he remembered the woman and bounded off the bed, violently shoving the nurse into the wall with one hand on her throat, snarling and with hatred shining brightly in his dark, gray eyes.  
  
Vincent's action had shocked the entire room and it seemed like time stood still for a moment. The doctor had backed several feet, another nurse was holding onto the wall on the other side of the room and DJ, who Vincent just noticed, had also backed up and had her mouth slightly open. Then he saw his mother. She was the only one who hadn't backed away but she had her hands over her mouth and he could see a tear rolling down her cheek.  
  
"Vincent..." He turned his head slightly to look at her and still have an eye on the nurse "What are you doing?" Her voice was shaking and her body with it. The look in her eyes made Vincent soften up a little but when the nurse tried to move, his grip hardened and he snarled at her again as he stared at her like a murderous predator. He could feel the fear ebbing out from the nurse in waves. The look in her eyes told him that she was scared for her life. Of course, Vincent had never thought of it before but he realised how easy it would be to seriously hurt the woman. He could crush her throat within a few seconds.  
  
The thought scared him and he noticed that the nurse had trouble breathing so he loosened his grip, allowing her to breathe but still holding her firmly in place.  
  
He stared her into the eyes and spoke with a guttural voice that was on the brink of a whisper. "Why did you put me to sleep again? Didn't you see I was awake?!" The young nurse just stared at him in fear and he moved in close to her face. "You have no idea of the hell I just went through... I fought to try and wake up but when I finally did, you just put me back down again! Why?"  
  
The nurse tried to avoid his piercing stare "Tell me!!" he growled at her as he hardened his grip on her and forced her to look at him.  
  
Tears began flowing freely from her eyes "I..." her voice was merely a whisper. Vincent was the only one who could hear what she was saying. "There was a man who wanted me..." He wanted me to make you stay asleep for a few days."  
  
"Who?!" Vincent didn't bother keeping his voice low anymore.  
  
"I don't know!" She called out. Vincent could feel her tears as they touched the hand he had on her throat. "He was bald... and he smoke a cigar..." she thought for a minute "What else?!" Vincent screamed at her  
  
"I don't know! He looked like any other person! He just gave me a bundle of money and told me to make sure that you were out for four days." Everyone in the room heard the nurse that time.  
  
Vincent searched his memory for someone bald and with a cigar in his mouth. And who would be handing out money to keep him unconscious? His record of people wasn't what anyone would call large...  
  
He could only think of one person.  
  
He let go of the nurse, who fell to the floor gasping for air and hurrying to get out of his way.  
  
Suddenly he felt very lightheaded. He got down on one knee to try and stabilise himself. His mother came down and wrapped her arms around him, holding him from falling to the floor.  
  
She just sat there for a while, holding him. Even though his world was very blurry, he still realized what it was he had just done. His mother was probably just as scared of him as the nurse had been. He was surprised that he hadn't been tackled to the ground yet and given a tranquilizer. But the thought left as soon as it came to him.  
  
(four days... I was out for four days. Damn I feel weak... I'm not even strong enough for my legs to carry me...) He instantly remembered the event with the Rhyhorn and Rhydon. How much it had hurt when they attacked. How the last thing he saw was Slate throwing the Rhydon into the forest.  
  
Feeling a little less dizzy, he raised his head and asked "Where's my Pokémon?" He was surprised and a little ashamed that he sounded so weak.  
  
"They're ok. I took them to the Pokémon Centre after we got you here." DJ answered.  
  
Vincent glared up at her from the floor. "You... Why..." he stood up, his legs shaking and stared at DJ "did you know?"  
  
DJ was obviously surprised at the question. "Knew what?" He could see her backing a little. She was afraid that he would do the same to her what he had done to the nurse. Heck, everyone in the room was afraid of him. But he wouldn't do that again. Then he would most certainly get put back to sleep and wake up tied to the bed.  
  
"How much did he give you? Or is it already in your job duties?!" He advanced on her slowly, holding on to whatever he could, careful not to lose his balance while he pinned her to the wall with his gaze.  
  
She fidgeted as he advanced on her. "Who are you talking about?"  
  
"Don't pretend like you don't know!" He grabbed an IV stand and threw it into the nearby wall, making everyone in the room jump.  
  
The violent throw caused Vincent to fall to the floor, holding his head. He spoke with a low, guttural voice. "That nurse was paid to keep me sedated." Nothing was heard throughout the room but Vincent could feel the tension.  
  
"she..." he paused a little to make sure he didn't throw up "was paid by a, bald man smoking a cigar."  
  
He looked up at DJ and talked very slow. Just to make sure she got it all. "How many people do you know that are bald, smoke cigars and would benefit from keeping me sedated?!" he intensified his gaze even further, hoping he would burn a hole through her skull.  
  
"I know only one... Your boss." He looked back down on the floor. "That fat, cigarsmoking fuck paid her to keep me down!" He slammed his hands down on the floor. "Did you know?!" he screamed at her.  
  
DJ stood against the wall with her lips pressed together, her brows lowered and her eyes fixed on him. "...Four days ago, you saved my life." Her voice was shaking with anger "You threw me out of the way to save me from being crushed. You took a punch that would have knocked anyone unconscious. Your ribs were broken and you could barely walk but still you came back. You came back and threw your fist into something as hard as a rock when you already knew that it would have no effect. And you KNEW that you could die! I owe you my life three times over and now you ask me if I would do something like that to you?!"  
  
Vincent didn't say anything.  
  
"No, I didn't know." DJ said and walked out of the room. With that, the doctors picked up Vincent and put him back on the bed.  
  
¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤- ¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤-¤  
  
A week passed. After Vincent's little show, the doctor had told him that it would take some time before he could leave because of his injuries. To any other person, it would have been acceptable. But Vincent Grey wasn't any other person. He wanted to leave as soon as possible and he just thought it was bullshit when the doctor told him that he needed to stay. He had a wounded foot and hand and a couple of broken ribs. So what? He could take the pain. He was a man.  
  
The doctor had tried to argue with him a couple of minutes before he gave in. He had told Vincent that if he wanted to leave that badly, he wouldn't stop him.  
  
Vincent had gone off the bed immediately. When he set down his bad foot, it had hurt. It had hurt like hell. But Vincent didn't want to stay in the hospital. And he didn't want to be proven that he was wrong either, so he bit down and walked a few more steps. After his fourth step, it felt like something snapped and Vincent fell to the ground. He had tried to break the fall with his hands, which was a really bad move. His wounded hand hurt just as much as his foot when it hit the ground so he caved in and landed on his broken ribs.  
  
Now he couldn't take it anymore. He cried out in pain as he felt his ribs move. There he was. On the floor unable to move. He was helpless and he knew it. The doctor hadn't made a move to help him either. He just stood there, looking at the poor shell of a man that was Vincent.  
  
"Still want to go?" was all he said. Vincent didn't reply. The doctor had made his point very clear.  
  
So Vincent stayed. Much to his frustration. What the hell was he supposed to do in a hospital bed? He couldn't train. He couldn't battle. He couldn't sit against a tree and look at Pokémon. He couldn't swim in the ocean. He couldn't feel the smell of grass in the morning or food over a fire. He couldn't... He couldn't do anything.  
  
Vincent sighed heavily and looked out the window. He had been moved to another floor after he had woken up. They had rolled him to his new room in a wheelchair. A goddamn wheelchair! He would have walked his way there even if he only had half a foot! He thought it was really humiliating to get rolled around by some guy like you were ninety years old and had a hip problem! They could at least have given him crutches. He wouldn't have used those either but at least they could have offered him a pair.  
  
They had even put him in a room all by himself because they thought he would repeat his previous actions. But he didn't mind that though. He liked it by himself. He had a TV, a cool remote to his bed, a nice little curtain that went all the way around his bed and a sweet pyjama that had air- condition all the way down his back... And let's not forget about the best of all! He had his very own potty so that he wouldn't have to move anywhere, thus rendering him unable to go out of his room simply because he had no reason to.  
  
It wasn't difficult to get bored. And on the second day since he had woken up, he almost wished he had run away from the Rhyhorns and Rhydon and let DJ cope on her own.  
  
(She could've thrown her camera at them or something...) The thought made Vincent lighten up for a second. Then he remembered that he hadn't seen DJ since he had accused her of knowing about what the nurse had done to him.  
  
(She did have a point back there. Assuming she is a woman of honor. Not everyone is. Heck, almost no one believes in honor. It's all backstabbing... and why wouldn't it be? Backstabbing is the easy way.) Vincent gently massaged his injured hand, it was still very sore. But his hand was the least of his troubles. He could still travel with a hurt hand. But he couldn't with a hurt foot. Or broken ribs either.  
  
Vincent sighed and winced at the pain that followed. He laid his head back and started to think about the nightmares he had experienced. He had never really had any bad nightmares. Not even when he was little. Sure, it had happened that he had called out to his mother in the middle of the night with tears streaming but it hadn't happened often at all. And even then, the nightmares weren't like this.  
  
In a sea with creatures. Reliving painful scenes from his school years. Seeing his mother dead. Seeing himself as a man on the brink of madness. And then there was the one that puzzled him the most. He was in a barren and incredibly cold landscape and all of a sudden, he feels the heat of someone else. No one is actually there but he can sense someone warm and comforting. Someone that protects him from the cold. And then when he accepts that someone wants to protect him, that someone stabs him in the place that hurts the most. His heart.  
  
When he thought of them all it kind of felt like all the dreams were trying to break him. To put him through one tough emotion after the other just to break him down.  
  
(That's nonsense... It's my own mind. Why would I want to break myself?)  
  
Because you know that you aren't as strong as you think you are. And that it isn't good to be what you are trying to achieve.  
  
Vincent didn't think those words. They just appeared in his mind with one single emotion. Doubt.  
  
What was he really trying to be? Someone as physically fit as possible, of course. But it was relatively easy to train. Trying to change your mind was something else. He didn't want to be... vulnerable. He wanted to be in full control. He didn't want to get nervous. Or afraid. He wanted to be the best at as much as possible. He didn't want to have a single weak spot.  
  
(if you don't want a weak spot, you shouldn't have any emotions. They only mess things up for you. Screw with your head.)  
  
Flawless. Perfect. No emotions. Uncapable of feeling.  
  
(...a robot.)  
  
Did he want to be like a robot? He knew that it wasn't a good thing to be like that but in a way, he did want to be exactly like that. Why? Why want to be perfect?  
  
(Matt...) the only reason Vincent had started training himself in the first place and trying to become perfect, was Matt. If Vincent was perfect, Matt couldn't say or do anything to hurt him. He wondered what kind of person he would be like if Matt hadn't existed. Most likely completely different.  
  
He hated Matt for causing him so much pain! Oh, he would love to get even with him and whoever was with him! Let them know what he had become! That he was superior over them in every department possible! He was stronger than them, smarter than them, faster than them! His heart craved for a moment where all his older adversaries picked a fight with him. How he would humiliate them! He had even thought of the event in detail. How it would start and how it would end.  
  
He would see Matt and his posse walking towards him, smiling because of the opportunity to beat up on someone. Vincent would be wearing big, baggy clothes just so that they wouldn't see the muscle he had gotten since that day at the end of the ninth grade. And that he would act scared of them just so that they would be sure he would go down easily. But how he would humiliate them... He would let Matt throw the first punch, which usually came to the gut. But he wouldn't get out of the way. Heck, he wouldn't even try to block it. He would just tighten his abs and feel the blow land on him. Then he would grab Matt's hand by the wrist, squeezing it as he slowly bended it upwards. That was where Matt's grin would be lost and replaced with the face of a man who was in pain and had just realized he might have taken water over his head. Vincent would then stare into his eyes and smile before he punched the weakling straight to the jaw, hopefully breaking it.  
  
Then the entire posse would probably jump him. But he didn't think he would have any problems whatsoever with them. A few quick punches and kicks and they would be on the ground, whining.  
  
His chain of thought was interrupted when he heard the door open and when he looked, he saw DJ in the doorway, wearing a beige sack over her shoulder. The second he saw her, he felt tension in the room. She didn't look at him when she walked over to his bed and her facial expression signalled discomfort and even nervousness.  
  
(Why is she nervous??)  
  
When she reached his bed, she laid the sack on his slightly parted legs "For you." Then she sat down on a chair that stood next to his bed.  
  
"What's this?" He looked at her but when their eyes met, she quickly looked at the bag and waved with her hand a little at it, "Open"  
  
The sack was tied with a string at the top and when Vincent untied the knot and looked inside, he saw that the entire bag was filled with envelopes.  
  
"Letters for you. People sent them to the Network. And that's just a small amount. We are basically swimming in them over there.  
  
Vincent looked around a little more in the bag and then he sighed.  
  
"DJ..." She noticed immediately that he hadn't called her woman "I know that you think I'm the biggest ass on this planet. And if you don't, you should. But you're wrong. I'm not as bad as you think I am." He looked her in the eyes "The way I've acted towards you have been nothing but just that. Acting. I've been like that because I thought that if I treated you really badly, you would break down and don't do the show anymore. But after all of this attention it's been getting instead, I won't be able to do anything about it." He had watched the show on TV and there had been a few people at the hospital who wanted to see him. However, no one could come in because he was still considered a live wire.  
  
He paused a little and took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was going to say. "So if you and me are going to have to be together for another six months, it's better if we get along."  
  
DJ just sat there, not knowing what to say. She was a little shocked and at the same time, she didn't believe a word he was saying. In her eyes, he was an ass. A stupid ass, too. He could quit the show anytime he wanted to. After he had accused her, she had gone to the Producer and confronted him about it. True enough, he had paid the nurse. All Vincent had to do was to call the police, they would speak to the nurse and she would identify the Producer. DJ had seized the moment and taken to a little good old-fashioned blackmail. In exchange for not telling anyone about the bribing, DJ would get to decide everything that had anything to do with the show. Technically, it was her show. She could do whatever she wanted and if anyone had anything against it, they would think the Producer had done it and they would confront him. He couldn't do much more than deal with whoever had something to say.  
  
Of course, she didn't tell Vincent any of this. If he knew, he would be gone in less than ten seconds.  
  
"I don't believe that you are a nice guy. You'll just going to have to prove it to me." He could almost hear that she smiled as she said it.  
  
"I'm not proving anything!" He wasn't going to be her damn puppy just to prove that he was in fact nicer than what he had appeared to be. Maybe not pleasant and funny but nicer than before at least.  
  
"Calm down... I'm not asking you to do anything. I'm just saying that I have a hard time to believe you. If you're telling the truth, I'll notice it, right?"  
  
He didn't say anything in response.  
  
"Right. Oh, a nurse asked me to give you this, too. She was too afraid to go in here herself..." She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to him. "Apparently, some girl had been here to visit you while you were unconscious and she left you this before she left."  
  
It was just a paper folded in half with his name written on one side. The handwriting was small and neat. Vincent opened the paper and read what was written.  
  
'Vincent Grey'  
  
'I have been here for three days now and you show no signs of waking up. If I could, I would stay longer but I have things to do. I don't know if you remember me or not but if you want to hear what I have to say, you should go to Hoenn. I won't be too hard to find.'  
  
'Just take the challenge.'  
  
**Notes:** This chapter has been delayed for an extremely long time now. During that time, I've lost my will to write. At least to write with a passion. I have also lost my passion for Pokémon.  
  
Without those two, it is very difficult for me to write so that I'm satisfied with it myself. And if I can't even satisfy my own needs, then how can I possibly satisfy the readers needs? I hate to leave the story like this and if I could let all of you into my head and allow you access to what I was planning for Vincent, I would gladly do it.  
  
This might be the last chapter of A Grey Life. If it isn't, the next chapter probably won't see the light of day for a long time... But you never know. Just... don't wait up. Yours truly / Yorun 


End file.
